Опубликовано (дата) 3/10/2008 9:02 AM
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We assume that children who work are unable to attend school, but this
is often not so: children throughout much of the world do both. In
fact, many schoolchildren in poor countries spend more time at work
than in school. Often they must work in order to pay for their school
supplies, transportation, and tuition. Sometimes older children are
asked to stay home and work so that the younger children can also have
a chance to attend school.
What is important is how work and school are balanced so that children
benefit from both. We don't always recognize that children learn
valuable skills from work of the right kind. We also assume that all
schooling is good. Some schools do not provide a useful learning
environment, and children face increased risk of harm and exploitation.
This is especially true for working children, who are more likely to be
physically abused, humiliated, or not helped to learn in school. Many
drop out of school as a result. In some cases, schools are not very
good, and it is difficult for children and adults to see the advantage
of staying in school instead of contributing to the family income.
What is needed are child-friendly schools that serve the best interests
of all children. This means flexible school schedules to accommodate
working children, holding classes close to where the children work, and
making sure that poor rural and urban children have access to safe,
good-quality education that is relevant to their lives.
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| Опубликовано (дата) 3/10/2008 9:03 AM
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Ответить (кому): mustafaxx ..
Why do children work?
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Education and Child Labour
We assume that children who work are unable to attend school, but this
is often not so: children throughout much of the world do both. In
fact, many schoolchildren in poor countries spend more time at work
than in school. Often they must work in order to pay for their school
supplies, transportation, and tuition. Sometimes older children are
asked to stay home and work so that the younger children can also have
a chance to attend school.
What is important is how work and school are balanced so that children
benefit from both. We don't always recognize that children learn
valuable skills from work of the right kind. We also assume that all
schooling is good. Some schools do not provide a useful learning
environment, and children face increased risk of harm and exploitation.
This is especially true for working children, who are more likely to be
physically abused, humiliated, or not helped to learn in school. Many
drop out of school as a result. In some cases, schools are not very
good, and it is difficult for children and adults to see the advantage
of staying in school instead of contributing to the family income.
What is needed are child-friendly schools that serve the best interests
of all children. This means flexible school schedules to accommodate
working children, holding classes close to where the children work, and
making sure that poor rural and urban children have access to safe,
good-quality education that is relevant to their lives.
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Children who live in poverty often work to support
themselves or help their families. In developing countries, the vast
majority of child labourers work for their parents or relatives, often
in agriculture or running family businesses. As the number of people
infected with HIV/AIDS grows, more and more children work to replace
family members.
In cultures that discriminate against girls or women, families and
societies may not invest as much in girls' education, and girls may be
encouraged to go to work at a young age. Other children work after
dropping out of school—often because schools fail to meet their needs.
 How does girls' work differ from boys'?
Cultural expectations mean that girls tend to have fewer options than
boys. The work of girls is generally valued less than that of boys, it
is more likely to be unpaid, and it is often out of sight in the
household, such as caring for other family members and infants.
Families stricken by HIV/AIDS often rely on children, usually girls, to
do the work of adults. This means that girls often miss out on
opportunities to learn skills to generate income.
The majority of girls employed outside the home work in other people's
homes as domestic servants—maids or nannies—where they face a higher
risk of physical, psychological, and sexual abuse in already
exploitative working conditions. Girls who can attend school often find the schools unsafe.
Policies and programs that address child labour need to take into
account the different experiences and issues facing girls and boys who
work. For example, non-formal education programs for working children
are often held at night, when girls cannot attend because it is unsafe
for them to go outside. Programs that encourage children to participate
in decision-making about their work need to ensure that both girls and
boys are given the chance to participate.
How is Canada helping these children?
Non-harmful child labour
enables children like this
young boy in Jaipur, India,
to work during the day and attend
school after work.
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The
Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) protects children's
rights through its Action Plan on Child Protection. Because of the
number of children who work around the world and the effects that work
can have on children's development, helping child labourers is one of
CIDA's priorities.
This rights-based approach is guided by the United Nations Convention
on the Rights of the Child, the most ratified UN Convention in the
history of the world. It stresses that children are actors in their own
development and are contributors to their families and societies.
Article 12 of the Convention outlines children's rights to participate
in decisions that affect them, in ways that are right for their age,
and to have their views taken seriously.
CIDA realizes that some children must work. Experience has shown that
bans on child labour don't always work, and the children pushed out of
labour often end up in more dangerous jobs, such as the commercial sex
trade. Instead, CIDA helps working children to lead lives free from
exploitation, abuse, neglect, and discrimination. This means making
sure their working conditions are safe and healthy. It also means
providing them with access to good-quality basic education.
High in the Andes mountains of South America, for example, Bolivian
boys as young as 10 crush rocks at mines. By the time they are 12, they
shoulder pickaxes and descend into the dark underground, where their
lungs darken prematurely from rock dust. In the town of Potosi, CIDA is
helping child miners find less-harmful work and get an education.
In the West African country of Côte d'Ivoire, where much of the world's
cocoa is produced, child labourers commonly work on the plantations.
CIDA is helping raise awareness among farmers and cocoa cooperatives of
the need to protect children from pesticide exposure, carrying heavy
loads, and using dangerous tools.
In the Southeast Asian country of Thailand,
girls as young as 12 are sold into the sex trade from poor families in
the north. Most have no formal education. CIDA is working with UNICEF
to stop these girls from being trafficked into prostitution and to
provide them with education.
As long as children have to work, CIDA will work with them to improve
their chances for a safer and happier future. At the same time, CIDA
continues to reduce poverty and the conditions that force children to
work.
What you can do
- Get informed. Learn more about child labour, and share what you learn with your friends, family, and teachers. Visit the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Save the Children Canada, and the International Labour Organization's Program on the Elimination of Child Labour.
- Get connected. Join and support non-governmental
organizations working directly with children to help stop the worst
forms of child labour, such as Global March Against Child Labour, Street Kids International (SKI), and Eldis Working Children and Young People Guide. You can also join a chat forum on child labour.
- Make a difference. Join Anti-Slavery's Campaign Network.
Urge local, national, and international news media to raise awareness
about child labour. And be an informed consumer and traveller.
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