violence against children WORLD REPORT ON - CRIN

“She is so young, hardly 8 years old, carrying charcoal, and in school uniform,when asked why she has not gone to school, she says she is working.”Boy, 15, Eastern and Southern Africa, 2005 XII6Universal education and lifeskillsUniversal access to schooling is a key componentof ending child labour. There are manyarguments in favour of making basic educationcompulsory for both boys and girls, includingthe requirement on the State to increase educationalinvestment and impetus to reach theinternational goal of Education For All (see thechapter on violence against children in schoolsand educational settings). The attainmentof this goal is closely related to many others,including poverty reduction, gender equality,and improved maternal and child health.Universal education also has a track record inhelping end child labour. For example, in boththe Indian state of Kerala and in Sri Lanka,progress towards universal education has beenaccompanied by the departure of some childrenfrom full-time work, despite little effortto implement child labour laws. 144It is important to note that schooling and workare not mutually exclusive: going to school doesnot exclude all types of work at all times of dayfor children of working age. Children in manysocieties undertake part-time earning activitiesin order to help pay for schooling expenses, oras a useful part of their socialisation. Studiesin industrialised societies confirm the longtermvalue to the adolescent child of steadypart-time earning during secondary school aspart of their preparation for future adult life. 145However, such working and earning opportunitiesmust be done within boundaries thatsupport, rather than diminish, developmentalopportunities.In many settings, however, working children donot attend school. For this reason, many programmesto end child labour focus on bringingchildren into school, or returning them toschool, as an alternative to work. For example,the Child Workers’ Opportunities Project(CWOP), a large-scale community-based programmein three states of India used a multiprongedstrategy to enable children to leave theworkplace, in which the promotion of schoolgoingwas the prominent strand (see box). InBenin, the Groupe de recherche et d’actions pourle développement humain (GRADH) worksmainly with boys, some as young as seven, whohave been placed by their parents or guardianswith artisans such as car mechanics, carpenters,and masons. The NGO carries out surveys onartisans in collaboration with the artisans’ association,identifying the younger children andthose in especially difficult working conditions.It then arranges formal apprenticeships for theolder children and reinsertion of the youngerchildren into schools, working closely with theMinistry of Labour and the ILO. 146Child workers in their teens are usually veryaware of the disadvantages they face if theyhave not attended school; if practicable, theyusually want to gain education and training,and the future job advantages which theseimply. Even if they continue to work, theytend to seek opportunities in which they maylearn, and raise their status and prospects. 147But where children are totally dependent onstreet-based income to survive, they tend toplace the need to earn at a higher level thantheir need for education, however much theywould like to be able to read and write. 148259Violence against children in places of work