Can the issue of Child Labour be solved by Education?

Poverty is one of the main reasons that force children to enter labour force and work many hours a day. As a result of that and the lack of educational opportunities, it limits their chances from breaking out of the cycle of poverty stricken life. Due to the fact that obtaining a low occupation, dooms the next generation of children to live by the same model.

It is estimated by International Labour Organisation that in 2016, 168 million children worldwide, aged 5 – 17 are victims of child labour. In which around 22,000 are killed at work every year and many more injured and seriously harmed. In addition, in 2012, more than half - 85 million child labourers were working in hazardous situations.

What is Child Labour?

Child labour is a vast and an ambiguous concept that can be interpreted in various ways, depending on the lens that a person approaches the issue with. There is a considerable difference between the kinds of work and the difficult activities children do. The extent to which work can be identified with “child labour”, depends on the child’s age, the amount and the type of the work performed and the conditions in which one works.

The term is usually defined as employment of children into corrupt or exploitative industries. In which, the children are either forced or obliged to work in due to their own personal reasons, while also being in mental, physical, social, and moral danger. Child labour deprives children of their childhood, educational potential, dignity and health. Moreover, ignoring the fundamental human rights of a child.

There are various forms of child labour ranging from bad, to worse. Article 3 International Labour Organisation Convention 283 prioritised the worst forms of child labour in their extreme need to be eliminated. It encompasses child slavery, prostitution, illicit activities and hazardous work that could harm children’s safety or their morals in life. Occasionally, children are separated from their families, exposed to serious hazards and illnesses or left to fend for themselves at an early age.

Additionally, another way one can classify work into child labour is the impact the work has on a child’s education. Education is closely associated with child labour, as it is believed that it is a crucial component in relieving and softening the long-term impacts of poverty and a means to eliminate excessive child labour.

One of the distinctive features of child labour is that it interferes with their schooling; by limiting them of the opportunity to attend schools, obliging them to leave the school permanently and prematurely and by placing the strain on children as they attempt to combine school attendance with an excessively long and heavy work.

The ILO’s 2015 report “Child Labour and Education – Progress, challenges, and future directions” analyses the effects of child labour of a variety of demographics, on their educational opportunities. 

Child labour often corresponds to intense and long hours of work in harmful conditions, therefore, negatively affecting the school attendance as they are dependent on their income to sustain themselves and their family. In some countries, school attendance rates of working children are only about half of those of non-working children.

Moreover, it has been observed that rural working children tend to be among the most disadvantaged out of the whole population and therefore, the biggest percentage of children are obliged to work. However, despite the region, boys and girls often do different jobs. Females have to endure the double burden of tending to their own household in addition to the work outside of the house. As a result, leaving practically no time for schooling.

As one could have predicted, performance at school often suffers for those child labourers that still manage to combine work and education. Their poor school attendance and plain exhaustion form work could have an influence on their abilities to learn effectively.

Furthermore, due to the fact that there is a negative correlation between levels of economic activity of children and youth literacy rates, reflects the direct impact of child labour on education and their knowledge. The low literacy rates and the lack of basic knowledge of young children could prevent their own personal progress in life and limit future prospects in a decent adult working life.

Reasons for Child Labour

There is no one simple reason for the persistence and growth of child labour. Children’s participation in labour force is interlinked with social, economic and cultural conditions and attitudes in an area. Child labour occurs either due to moral obligations or exploitative industries.

One of the most prominent influencing factors that drives children into a workplace is poverty and social exclusion. Often, an income of a child is considered to be crucial in their survival and one of the household, especially in large families, where additional support is required. Moreover, cultural traditions could mean that children are expected to follow their parents’ footsteps in a particular area, so they rely on child labour in order for them to learn the skills required for the job at a young age. Worst of all, is the fact that in some areas of the world, child labour is so common and deeply intertwined in peoples’ lives and customs that it has become a habitual occurrence, desensitising the parents and children to the illegality of the labour.

Additionally, labour mobility and cheap labour could force the children into poorly paid work with bad conditions. In which cases, the adults take advantage of the vulnerability of the children as they are generally, more easily controlled and more obedient.

Furthermore, the lack of adequate social protection and weaknesses in educational systems could be a factor contributing to child labour. Many communities do not possess adequate school facilities or even when schools exist, frequently, the education quality is poor. Unsurprisingly it is often perceived that education is irrelevant to children in their local conditions and acts as an additional investment or a missed opportunity for additional income.

Impact of Child Labour

As a result, child labour poses multitude of ethical questions. Everyone can agree that forcing children to join labour force and depriving them of health and happiness is unacceptable. However, although some children are being manipulated into work, for some, in impoverished parts of the world it is a necessity to take on the roles of providers in the family at a very young age to sustain themselves and their family. This condemns them to the life of poverty, constant work and a cycle that is brought about by the lack of education and their own need for child labour. Moreover, child labour does not only further worsens the poverty and literacy levels, it creates a feeling of animosity between the labourers and the western world. The feeling of disillusionment, apathy and detachment of the world could provoke a lot of prejudices and violence in labourers as they are led to believe that their interests or rights are not protected. In addition, the dignity of the child labourers could be significantly harmed that invokes a feeling of exclusion.

What is the Impact of Education?

Education is a fundamental human right that should be given to children irrespective of their class, gender, race, economic and social conditions, disability, culture and beyond. However, this right is often ignored in some parts of the world. Apart of many other lingering factors, the absence or lack of education is one of the primary reasons which pushes children into slavery like conditions.

Education allows one to discover their full potential and to perceive their goals in the future. It paves the way to a more successful and payable career, as well as aiding the next generations to have an easier start in their lives.

It is a crucial component of any effective effort to eliminate child labour. As a fully educated society could over time potentially break the reoccurring cycle of poverty as it would provide people with better jobs. It could also educate the people of the effects of child labour and the rights of children, which could resolve the issue more easily, provide social protection and provide economic growth.

One can see that child labour is a very complex issue that could be approached in a variety of ways. There is no one universal solution to child labour, but by providing education to the children in impoverished countries, could help to break the cycle of poverty. It could be done by actively bringing awareness and educating more developed countries of the issue of child labour, and only then there will be a hope that the issue can be decreased and possibly resolved in the future.