Policy direction: ‘Education will help end child labour’

Second phase of child labour survey will be completed by August 15

LAHORE: The provincial government will provide basic education and additional skill development facilities to children employed at workshops, petrol pumps, hotels and restaurants across the province as part of its strategy to end child labour in these sectors.

This was stated by Minister for Labour and Human Resources Raja Ashfaq Sarwar at the first meeting of a steering committee on child labour issues on Tuesday.

He said appropriate stipends would also be paid to these students.

Sarwar said a second phase of the child labour survey would be completed by the Bureau of Statistics by August 15. He said 13 districts would be covered in the survey. The third and final phase of survey in the remaining 13 districts would be completed by September 15.

Earlier, Labour Secretary Nawazish Ali briefed the meeting about the findings of the first phase of the survey. He said the survey carried out in 10 districts revealed that 5,420 children under the age of 14 years were employed at auto workshops, 71 at petrol pumps and at hotels and restaurants. The survey was carried out in Sheikhupura, Gujranwala, Khanewal, Bahawalnagar, Hafizabad, Sialkot, Okara, Multan, Rahim Yar Khan and Dera Ghazi Khan districts.

He said a comprehensive roadmap would be prepared to get these children enrolled in educational and technical training institutes.

Chief Secretary Capt (r) Zahid Saeed directed the officials concerned to ensure that a third-party evaluation of the surveys was carried out. This would help fix any lapses in data collected by the BoS, he said.

He said parents of children employed in workshops, petrol pumps, hotels and restaurants should be encouraged to get them enrolled in educational and vocational training institutes.

The labour minister said Rs449 million had been allocated for activities to end child labour in the province.

He said the services of non-government organisations (NGOs) would be engaged for provision of non-formal education facilities for these children.

Schools Education Secretary Abdul Jabbar Shaheen, Punjab Education Foundation managing director, Punjab Vocational Training Centre director, The Urban Unit chief executive officer, Punjab Social Protection Authority chief executive officer, Bureau of Statistics director general and Labour director general were also present on the occasion.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 13^th, 2016.