Education can help end child labour: experts

NEW DELHI - The Right to Education Act, which calls for free and compulsory education for everyone under the age of 14, will help to eliminate child labour in India, experts said Saturday.

Speaking on the World Day Against Child Labour, speaker after speaker underlined the importance of education.

“Every child out of school will sooner, rather than later, be a child labourer. Realisation of Right to Education is crucial in reaching the aim,” said Shantha Sinha, chairperson of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR).

India is home to nearly nine million child labourers, most of whom come from impoverished families and are often forced into hazardous industries. Many slave away without being paid.

Speaking at an event organised by the central government, the UN and a few industrial organisations, Sinha urged the private sector to join the initiative.

“The government needs equal social partners to see that the world is free of child labour. The role of private sector is inevitable,” she said.

A joint statement from the NCPCR, International Labour Organisation, Unicef and Unesco said that the Right to Education will substantiate efforts to eliminate child labour.

National Advisory Committee member and social activist Harsh Mander stressed the need to set up residential schools to woo child labourers.

“We we need to provide them residential facilities along with education,” Mander said. “After freeing a child labourer, the case is not followed and most go back to work. We must focus on taking them back to school.”

–Indo Asian news Service