Street children

Recently, the Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (SPARC) held a seminar to spread awareness and create a sense of urgency for the need to reduce the number of street children in the country. Though no official numbers are available, there are an estimated 1.5 million street children in Pakistan, making it imperative that the next government in charge tackle this issue head-on and work to put these children in school, rather than have them remain on the streets. It is justified to say that an emergency should be declared to remove the high number of children from our streets when they should be in school or, after hours, at home.

In order to tackle the problem, several measures can be taken if the will of the government is present. One of the most obvious solutions would be to enforce school attendance. Penalising parents for a child’s poor attendance or holding a student back in a grade for poor attendance below a certain number of required days would be fair consequences. Additionally, incentives to attend school should be added, such as scholarships for higher education. Another cause of the prevalence of street children is child labour, through which parents of low-income households earn their daily bread and butter despite the fact that there are several laws prohibiting child labour. These laws must be enforced if we are to reduce the number of street children.

The ongoing phenomenon of the high number of street children places no blame on the children themselves, of course. They are naturally vulnerable to exploitation and it is the responsibility of both, the state and their parents, as well as all well-meaning citizens, to ensure they are kept safe and off the streets and that their rights are safeguarded. Let us hope that the authorities take initiative to drive the dialogue on this issue and work to eradicate the high number of children on our streets.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 22^nd, 2013.