Open higher secondary schools in villages to stop child labour: Activists

COIMBATORE: Organizations working to stop child labour on Thursday demanded opening of higher secondary schools in rural areas to prevent child labour and child marriages. They also demanded children aged up to 18 be covered under the child labour laws.
Speaking at an event here to mark the 25th anniversary of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, activists from the Campaign Against Child Labour (CACL), Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, and UNICEF, Chennai, said they had noticed that there were less number of child marriages and child labour cases in an area where there were higher secondary schools.
“We did a study across 20 villages in Karumathampatti and found that areas with higher secondary schools saw less incidents of child labour and marriage,” said P Rajagopal, state convener, CACL. “This is especially true in the case of girl children,” he added.
Though the activists said they had no precise data on the prevalence of child labour in Tamil Nadu’s western region, they said they estimate that around six lakh children under 18 years have been employed in spinning mills.
“According to UNCRC, a child is defined as a person up to 18 years. India signed the treaty in 1992 but it got an exemption and made it 14 years claiming that they were a developing country,” said another activist, K Bhaskaran. “But even after 22 years, they have not changed that status,” he added.
The organizations also spoke about the lack of data and convictions when it comes to child labour cases. “There were just four convictions between 2009 and 2013,” Bhaskaran said. “They always settle complaints without registering a case,” he added.