18. Child Labor

• English Essay(1-20)
• 5 Years, 7 Months ago
• 286

18. Child Labor

18. Child Labor

Child labour remains an ever-present problem in Nepal. The major causes of child labour are poverty, large family, absence of provision for compulsory education and ignorance of parents, etc. Time has come to give serious thought to the elimination of prevalence of child labour.

Our constitution protects child from exploitation of any kind. But in practice it is not so. Child labourers are exposed to serious and continuous health hazards. Many children below the age of 14 are employed in garment factories, motels, buses, tempos, etc. They suffer from severe physical weakness, medical and other facilities are far-off dreams to them. They are paid low and are deprived of love, physical care, nutrition, or opportunity for education and progress in life.

At the present stage of economic development, total eradication of the problem does not seem possible. But what could be done, therefore, is to make the working conditions of child labourers better until we are in a position to eliminate child labour completely. Banning child labour altogether in factories and elsewhere is a long term measure, but fighting exploitation is the immediate need. This way, families who depend upon the earnings of children would not be pushed further below the poverty level. System to improve work conditions of children as related to hours of work per day, wages and basic facilities at the site, health and nutrition programmes, compulsory primary education should be formulated. On top of these there is a need to build a strong public opinion against any form of child labour.