Dismantling A Child Labour Structure Brick By Brick

Children give us so much hope, but have parents and guardians done their part for these children? We can raise so many questions regarding their welfare and safety.

- Ravi Nagahawatte

We know that our children are not very safe out on the street and even at school and intuition classes because these places have been haunted by pedophiles. As Sri Lankans, we are guilty of being reactive. Other countries are proactive and have strict laws in place to protect the rights and safety of children. The recent issue where a domestic aid employed at a lawmaker’s residence dying due to burnt injuries has made lawmakers think whether our children are safe; given the limitations in existing laws and the snail’s pace at which cases are taken up for hearing.

When we read the literature of Sri Lanka and the world we’ve read enough stories about child workers employed at homes and business establishments. Lawyer and author Neil Wijeratne writes in his short storybook titled ‘Madurasi Koluwa’ how a kid aged 12 or 13 years does business near a bus stop urging commuters to board buses he is promoting. Whether the story is fiction or not the message is clear; children in labour exist.

When one reads newspapers these days it seems child activity surveys haven’t been done for many years. One done in 2016 underscores that as many as 43,714 children were employed in labour activities while 39,007 were employed in hazardous forms of labour.

Some children have no other option when their fathers die prematurely and are forced to find employment. When watching the recent show titled ‘who wants to be a millionaire’ and telecast on Sirasa television we came to know of a few brothers having sacrificed the opportunity to pursue higher studies and found tough and exhausting labour because there were siblings who were minors in the family attending school.