Child labour woes seen in study 90% of 15 to 17 group exposed to hazardous work

http://www.stabroeknews.com/index.pl/article?id=56524175

Child labour woes seen in study
90% of 15 to 17 group exposed to hazardous work
By Miranda La Rose
Stabroek News,
Monday, July 9th 2007

The worst forms of child labour in Guyana are evident in the legal work
setting where children are exposed to hazardous tasks which affect
their health, safety or morals, according to raw data contained in
research carried out by the non-governmental or-ganisation, Educare
Guyana.

The research is currently being analysed overseas and it is expected
that the analysis with recommendation would be completed and handed
over to the Guyana Government by September.

In an interview, Educare Guyana Project Director, Edward Dunham told
Stabroek News that from the preliminary findings of research carried
out by the United States Department of Labour (USDOL)-funded programme
he "suspects" that Guyana has a major issue with the worst forms of
child labour in the specific circumstances mentioned.

However, Dunham was quick to point out that according to the
International Labour Organization (ILO) there were other types of the
Worst Forms of Child Labour, of which only isolated cases were found.
There were isolated cases of children, mainly teenagers, being pulled
into commercial sex activities and being trafficked, and dragged into
gangs that carry out illegal activities in the narcotics trade and to
fight in gangs.

"The biggest problem is that too many children are working and the work
is getting in the way of their attendance at school, with attendance an
average 40% to 50% in most cases," he said, noting that choices have to
be made when poverty is the main cause of the problem.

Though he did not state what percentage of children were not attending
school or attending school regularly, he noted, however, that the raw
data indicated that they were tens of thousands in this group with the
implication being that many were not getting an education. The 30% of
primary school-age children who cannot read or write are not ready for
secondary school and they end up on the street or in work not
appropriate for their age.

The challenge that Educare Guyana faces with the 11 to 14 group, who
are not in schools, is that the NGOs cannot provide intervention
programmes because the law stipulates that they should be in formal
school at that age.

The research also found that there are many children who do not want to
pursue academic studies and who prefer training in mechanics but the
needs of children without reading skills were not being addressed by
teachers. In this environment there is nothing in the schools to keep
them.

He noted that the newspapers' front pages are filled with examination
news of those children who have been successful at the Grade Six
examinations while there are thousands of youths and children who
cannot read those stories.

It was found that the majority of children who were out of school below
the age of 15 were involved in working activities which were affecting
their school attendance due mainly to economic circumstances. The work
included caring for siblings and at jobs for more than two or three
hours. In some cases children also undertook chores after school for
lengthy hours, including selling in the markets or at stalls which
affected their homework, rest and play and ultimately their school
attendance and performance.

Dunham noted that Educare's major activity was finding the extent of
the problems of the worst forms of child labour (WFCL) in Guyana.
Because of this mandate, Educare, which is being funded by a US$2
million grant, focused on specific profiles and issues. The programme
got underway in Guyana in November 2005 and was formally launched in
February last year. The programme runs for three and a half years.

He said that of the 15 to 17 age group, 90% of them were working in and
exposed to hazardous types of work that would negatively affect their
health, safety or morals. This included working in sawmills, exposure
to chemicals, heavy duty machinery and equipment, and vending at the
market where they are exposed to dangerous adult behaviour models.

The work, he said, might be legal for adults but inappropriate to the
15 to 17 age group whose minds and bodies may not be developed to cope
with the stresses of the type of work environment.

While the research was being carried out, Educare in collaboration with
the Ministry of Education has begun addressing the problem.

Accreditation

The research and pilot programmes with a number of schools and
out-of-school groups began in what is considered Phase One of a
two-phase project.

Educare hopes to achieve its objective of enabling primary school
children to remain in schools to receive a basic education by providing
feeding programmes, remedial after school clubs, parental involvement
and parent education and providing nine-month skills training
programmes that include numeracy and literacy, information technology
and counselling for the 15 to 17-year-old drop-outs.

In addition Educare Guyana would be advocating for accreditation for
the children involved in the skills training programmes.

Noting that there was a gap in the middle where children enter
secondary schools as functional illiterates, Dunham opined that
secondary schools need to adjust their focus to fit the profile of the
children attending the school rather than the children fitting the
schools' profiles.

In the attendance programme for the 11 to 12 group covering a total of
600 children are Fort Ordinance Primary in Region Six; St Anthony's
Primary in Bartica, Region Seven; and Malgre Tout Primary, Zeelugt
Primary, Greenwich Park Primary, Philadelpia Primary and Parika/Salem
in Region Three. At these schools feeding programmes are in place.

Remedial programmes focusing on numeracy and literacy have begun at St
Anthony's, Fort Ordinance and Zeelugt.

Activities for the 15 to 17 age group are being done with other NGOs
including the Adult Education Association (AEA) in Bartica and New
Amsterdam; Denise Catering Institute in Linden and the Sunshine Women's
Group in Region Three.

These NGOs would be working with the out-of-school children in a number
of skills training areas including catering, textiles, masonry,
joinery, art and craft. They would also be coursed in information
technology, literacy and numeracy, and health and family life
education. They would be engaged in 15 hours of contact time with their
trainers and the programme would run over a nine-month period.

Phase Two of the project will begin in September and the attendance
programme would involve 15 other schools in Regions Two
(Pomeroon/Supenaam), Three (West Demerara/Essequibo Islands), Four
(Demerara/ Mahaica), Five (Mahaica/ West Berbice), Six (East
Berbice/Corentyne) and Georgetown with a total of some 1,400 children.

Dunham noted that some 6,000 children of school age were targeted in
the research that Educare Guyana carried out. They were school
children, drop-outs and out-of-school children.

Children were targeted in Regions Two, Three, Four, Five, Six and
Georgetown, Linden and Bartica.

The children all recorded less than 75% attendance at school.
Interviews were conducted in the presence of adult family members or
guardians.

The interviews sought to find out the reasons for low attendance, the
challenges of work that the child was engaged in and whether the work
and house chores (paid or unpaid) affected school attendance. They were
conducted during the day and night.

Of the 6,000 interviewed, 1,500 were on the school record but some had
never attended school. They were between the ages of seven to 16.

One hundred and sixty persons were involved in the research and they
included teachers, school welfare officers, interested persons within
communities and some who were trained in research from a UNICEF
programme.

The findings of the research are now being analysed in the USA by
consultants working in collaboration with Partners of the Americas and
the United States Department of Labour.

Once the report has been analysed the findings and recommendations
would be presented to the Ministry of Education. However, he noted that
the ministry was very aware of some of the issues.