TheLiGHT

CHILD LABOR IN PAKISTAN

My this new post about increasing child labour in Pakistan, their is need to overcome it so that knowledge can reach to every one rich and poor equally to become a perfect man or woman; the human being can use its wisdom to explore the hidden facts if Universe; and also the human beings can finds the original purpose of their creation and can prove their capabilities and abilities that Allah Almighty blessed them and also can prove why Allah pak gave them the title of Naib Of Allah and why Allah Pak almighty ordered ibleece to bow to Adam. Allah Almighty has given human beings the wisdom and discretion to think upon the signs of the universe and to draw conclusions. That is the reason why they disclose the hidden facts of it and its structure and have made remarkable progress in many walks of life.

Children are the flowers of heaven. They are the most beautiful and purest creation of God. They are innocent both inwardly and outwardly. No doubt, they are the beauty of this world. Early in the morning when the children put on different kinds of clothes and begin to go to schools for the sake of knowledge, we feel a specific kind of joy through their innocence. But there are also other children, those who cannot go to schools due to financial problems, they only watch others go to schools and can merely wish to seek knowledge.It is due to many hindrances and difficulties; desperate conditions that they face in life. Having been forced to kill their aspirations, dreams and other wishes, they are pressed to earn a living for themselves and for their families. It is also a fact that there are many children who play a key role in sustaining the economically life of their family without which, their families would not be able to make ends meet. These are also part of our society who have forgotten the pleasures of their childhood. When a child in addition to getting education, earns his livelihood, this act of earning a livelihood is called as child Labour. The concept of child Labour got much attention during the 1990s when European countries announced a ban on the goods of the less-developed countries because of child Labour.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) defines child Labour as:

1- when a child is working during early age
2- he overworks or gives over time to Labour
3- he works due to the psychologically, socially, and materialistic pressure
4- he becomes ready to Labour on a very low pay

In Pakistan children aged 5-14 are above 40 million.3.8 million children age group of 5-14 years are working in Pakistan out of total 40 million children in this age group; fifty percent of these economically active children are in age group of 5 to 9 years. Even out of these 3.8 million economically active children, 2.7 million were claimed to be working in the agriculture sector. Two million and four hundred thousand (73%) of them were said to be boys.

Rural children are mostly engaged in the agricultural sector (74 per cent), whereas in urban areas, most working children (31 per cent) are engaged in the manufacturing sector. In both areas, the percentage of girls working in manufacturing and services is higher than that of boys; this indicates that girls are more likely to work in the manufacturing and services sectors as compared to boys. It is also observed that in the non-agricultural sectors, most of the working children (93 per cent) are engaged in informal activities.
It is an outcome of a multitude of socio-economic factors and has its roots in poverty, lack of opportunities,. According to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) the daily income of 65.5% people of Pakistan is below 2 U.S. dollars a day. According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) Report, 47 million people in Pakistan are leading lines below the line of poverty, whereas the Social Policy Development Centre (SDPC) Karachi has stated in one of its reports that the ratio of poverty in Pakistan was 33% during 1999 that increased in 2001 and reached 38%. The ratio of poverty in the current year is around 30%.

Consider the point that if 30% of our country’s total population is leading life below the poverty-line wherein the people are deprived of basic necessities of life like clothing, shelter, food, education and medication, the children of these people will be forced to become Labourers or workers in order to survive.

One-third of the working children are literate, which shows that mere completion of primary education is not an effective deterrent to child labour. School enrolment indicates that economically active children who are not enrolled in school (34.2 per cent) are higher than economically active children combined with school (13.2 per cent). This shows that enrolment is negatively correlated with the involvement of children in economic activity. Education attainment is low because of limited opportunities resulting from inaccessibility of schools; inability of parents to afford schooling costs; irrelevance of school curriculum to real needs, and restrictions on girls' mobility in certain parts of the country.


According to survey findings, the major factors responsible for child labour were:

*Villages lack standardized education systems
*Class-based education system is another reason for increasing child Labour
*There is no aid plan or allowance for children in our country.
*No security of socaial life
*Unemployment in country
*Uneven distribution of wealth and resources, outdated social customs and norms and plethora of other factors
*Large population with high population growth rate
*Almost three-fourths (70 per cent) of the total population living in rural areas, with subsistence agricultural activities;
*Low productivity and prevalence of poverty
*Unpaid family helpers, especially in agricultural activities
*Discriminating social attitude towards girls and women
*Inadequate educational facilities
*The government has not put its laws into practice to stop child Labour in our country

The steps that should be taken to remove child labour:

The present government in Pakistan has made elementary education compulsory. Along with this, the government has distributed free books in primary schools so that parents, who cannot afford their children’s school expenses, send their children to schools. The major point is that this decision must be acted upon at all levels. There is strict need to stop child Labour in this country.

*Security of social life must be provided.
*Awareness must be raised and the attention of parents ought to be diverted to the education of their children.
*Child Labour Laws should be put into practice strictly.
*The educational system of the country-must be reshaped and restructured according to national development goals.
*Socia, economical and political structure should be reshaped.
*The orphans and other deserving children must be helped financially on a prolonged basis.
*Good governance should be awake to act all these.

If we succeed to act upon these principles, our country can easily get rid of this problem i.e. child Labour. The agreement that has recently been approved by Pakistan, Norway and ILO to eradicate child Labour must be given importance and we hope that our rulers must put this agreement into practice using all means at their disposal. Inshallah! May Allah Bless Pakistan, Aameen!