Existence of high level of poverty, parental illiteracy and poor schooling opportunities for the children are the main contributing factors to the child labour in Pakistan.
In Pakistan about 8 million children are working in various employments and two-third of them are working full time.
According to a report, at least 100 million children in Punjab alone are out of schools. In urban communities children can be seen in working as a servant in home and also work as a care taker of babies’ under five years. Although the government NGOs and other organizations seem to be busy in solving the problem of child labour yet this problem exists at a large scale. Poverty is said to be main reason behind it. Poor parents are forced to push their child into practical life at an early age thus depriving them of their basic right to education.
It is unfortunate that at the age of learning and joy children are forced to work in kilns, restaurants, hotels, tea stalls, workshops and houses. They are even seen cleaning cars on the roads, working in car parking, polishing shoes, selling goods and many other such odd jobs.
There are about two million families in Pakistan living in bondage in various sectors, of these nearly eight million are children. The main sectors in which the children are made to work are the agriculture sector, the bricks kiln industry, carpet wearing and domestic services. These children earn money for their families.
The Convention on rights of child (CRC) urges the governments to take operational dealings for its suppression. The fundamental rights of child as existence, schooling, safety and development are grossly violated by child labour
AMMARA CHUGHTAI, Lahore, April, 26.