218m children in Child Labour worldwide

GENEVA — NIGERIA will join 60 other countries around the world to mark Child Labor Day on June 12, 2008 to draw attention to the plight of 218 million children engaged in child labor worldwide and focus on education for all children as the surest way to put an end to child labor world wide.

Just at the President of the Nigeria Labor Congress (NLC), Comarde Abdulwaheed Omar called on the Federal Government to put in place an enduring training program for teachers.

Omar, who spoke exclusively to Vanguard in Geneva, Switzerland on the ILO’s call on government to prioritize education said, the “training and retention of teachers is essential to sustain an educational program that would bring about development”.

The NLC president who is also the National President of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) said, teachers have to be motivated “through training, enhancing their welfare and creating a condusive atmosphere for learning,” cautioning that if this is not done, whatever is spent on education will come to nought.

Comrade Omar said “it is not a waste of money to train teachers,” adding: “That is why we are against casual labor in education. It out of place to have casual teachers. Without quality education, there cannot be any meaningful development.”

Omar said the training and retention of teachers is essential as teachers tend to have more experience as their years of service progress.

The ILO defines Child Labor as hazardous work in which children are engaged in to earn a living either in support of their parents for themselves and has directed governments to place education on their priority list in order to eliminate child labor.

In accordance with the directive from the ILO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, governments are to provide education for all children to the minimum age of employment which is 18 in Nigeria, initiate education programs that would reach out to child laborers and other groups socially excluded and also ensure properly resourced and quality education and skill training with trained and professional teachers.

The ILO headquarters which is currently hosting its 97th annual international labor conference said millions of children engaged in child labor are denied “educational opportunities that would give them a better future or must balance work with education.”

The International Program for Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC) which is in charge of child labor activities attributed child labor to high cost of education, “because their families rely on them to work, or simply because there are no available school facilities.”

On June 12, the ILO will release a technical report on the link between Child Labor and Education based on study conducted in 34 countries around the world.

The ILO’s Bureau for Gender Equalitz will also launch a campaign for the education of children with the slogan “Formula for progress: Educate both girls and boys!”.

In Nigeria, several activities would be organized by the federal government, private employers and organized labor to campaign against Child Labor.

Nigeria was one of the first African Countries to ratify Convention 182 of the ILO ( Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor) and has been a vocal member of the ILO in the campaign against Child Labor.

The ILO said its goal is “ the progressive elimination of all child labor worldwide. The worst forms of child labor, which include hazardous work, commercial sexual exploitation, trafficking of children and all forms of slavery, among others, should be abolished as a priority.”

Vanguard Online Edition