Slum dwellers shut out of job opportunities

Lack of vocational training leaves inhabitants of nomadic settlements unemployed

LAHORE:

Considering the regrettable state of the country’s public education system and the peaking rate of unemployment, children belonging to low-income families conventionally incline towards acquiring a particular skill set which can allow them to earn a decent living in the absence of a formal qualification. However, for slum dwellers situated both literally and figuratively at the society’s margins, the dual absence of both education and skills training leaves behind very few legitimate, let alone respectable, job opportunities for ensuring their survival.

For instance, 32-year-old Salim who lives in a nomad settlement located at the Band Road, regularly collects garbage from the nearby areas as a means of supporting his family of four. “I separate useful items like plastic bottles and scrap metal from the trash, which are then sold to a local junkyard. For this I earn Rs700 to Rs800 per day. If only I had a qualification or knew a particular skill, I would never collect garbage for a living,” deplorably shared Salim, who despite not receiving any formal education himself enrolled two of his three children at an NGO school.

Like Salim, it is estimated that as many as 80 per cent of the youth living in nomadic settlements rely on garbage collection for supporting their families while the others manufacture and sell hand-made toys or perform on the streets as monkey and snake charmers. According to Iftikhar Mubarak, Head of Search for Justice, since basic education is a condition for admission to government vocational training institutions, the majority of nomads are naturally left out of the programs since most of them receive no formal education.

“Despite Article 25A of the Constitution obliging the government to provide free and compulsory education to all children between the ages of five to fifteen years, literacy rates among slum dwellers are fairly low. Therefore, there is a dire need to adopt a customized strategy at the community level to offer skills training to the uneducated nomadic youth. Nomadic youth should be given opportunities to learn skills that do not require education like sewing, embroidery, beautification and crafting homemade handicrafts,” opined Mubarak.

Nazir Ghazi, Head of the Grassroots Organization for Human Development (GODH), an NGO working for the welfare of nomads, highlighted the fact that children brought up in slum areas were more or less excluded from the world, making it difficult for them to integrate into society. “Nomad families have no concept of encouraging their children to go away from the home and learn a new skill since they prefer to stay connected in a single unit. Furthermore, nomad families have no platform for conveying their grievances through a special union,” said Ghazi.

Ghazi went on to reveal that GODH had launched a project for imparting skills to nomadic girls in 2007 and 2008. The project was funded by the South Asia Women’s Development Programme and aimed to familiarize nomadic girls with the performing arts especially with regards to playing musical instruments like the harmonium. “There is a well-known film studio in the city where nomads are employed as extras for shooting songs in various films. This job allows them to earn good wages,” added Ghazi. The spokesperson of the Punjab Social Welfare Department conceded that although the department was working for the welfare of women, elderly, transgender and differently abled persons, no specific project had thus far been aimed at uplifting the slum communities.

“We are currently providing opportunities to learn various skills to all locals irrespective of any social boundaries. All youngsters who meet the basic requirements can receive training,” affirmed the spokesperson for the Punjab Vocational Training Institute.