Today’s children are tomorrow’s leaders. The future of our world depends on the way our young generation is protected and nurtured. Formal education plays a key role in it.Child labour is a social evil which exists in many countries even now, where children are forced to work instead of going to schools. Thus formal education is denied to them. Even though the percentage of child labour decreased from twenty five percent in the sixties to ten percent in this decade, according to the United Nation statistics, an estimated 215 million children aged between five and seventeen worldwide, are currently involved in child labor. This staggering figure shows the seriousness of this problem. The issue is considered to be worst in Africa.  The reality is that child labour also exists in its worst forms such as slavery and trafficking, debt bondage and other forms of forced labour, forced recruitment of children for use in armed conflict, prostitution, and illicit activities.

There are primarily three reasons for child labour. They are poverty and economic exploitation, lack of schools and lack of awareness. Across the world, poverty plays a predominant role for the increase of child labour. The decision to drop schools are often led by the inability of the parents to support their child’s education. Sometimes unavailability of schools in local areas also contribute to this factor. It is estimated that, currently we have a shortage of 8 million teachers.

Only an effort of global scale, involving countries and governments across the world, along with citizen’s involvement can fight this problem. The United Nation and The International labour Organisation has taken several global initiatives to eradicate child labor. These efforts have resulted in thousands of children being withdrawn from work and rehabilitated or prevented from entering the workforce. Another noted person  who is in the forefront of this battle is the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize winner Mr. Kailash Satyarthi  who dedicated himself to protecting child rights for over three decades now, freeing 80,000 child labourers ,giving them new hope in life. Every Year June 12 is celebrated by the United Nations as ‘Word Day against Child labour.  It the duty of every citizen around the world to make sure that his or her child goes to school. As children, we can also play our part in this initiative. If any of our friends are struggling with his or her school fee or any educational need, let us offer a helping hand. We can conduct awareness programs among the poor about the importance of education and request our parents to support poor students. Let’s dream about a world where all children happily go to school and get empowered.

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