Why is quality education critical in tackling child labour?

This year’s World Day against Child Labour highlighted the key role that education can play in tackling child labour. The following stories from child labourers in Jordan show why getting children out of work and into the classroom can make a huge difference to their future.

Presentation | 07 September 2015

In Jordan, the International Labour Organization has been working closely alongside its national partners since 2002 to take children out of the workplace and into the classroom.

To earn extra income to support his unemployed parents and five siblings, 14-year-old Ahmad spends most of his days cavenging for recyclables on the streets of the Jordanian capital Amman. He earns about US$4 a day.

Ahmad dropped out of school at the age of 10 to help provide for his family, two of whom have disabilities and require expensive medical treatment.

Ahmad recently began visiting the government-funded Social Support Centre in the Jordanian city of Marka, which offers working, out-of-school children basic education classes and recreational facilities. Even though he is now learning to read and write at the centre, Ahmad still feels he has no choice but to continue working. “I feel responsible for helping my family financially,” he said.

Sixteen-year-old Hisham also learned to read and write at the Social Support Centre, after dropping out of school to help his father deliver goods in the family truck. He now attends a vocational training centre, which specializes in teaching hospitality skills like waiting and pastry and bread making. He hopes it will lead to a well-paid job with good prospects. “I want to be a chef at a five star hotel,” he said.

Hisham has been given the chance of a better life, but there are still many other working children in Jordan who need help. Statistics from 2007 show that 1.6 per cent of five to 17 year-olds were child labourers. Hazardous work is a major issue facing young workers, especially in the sectors of auto repair, carpentry, iron melting and those involved with working on the streets or collecting rubbish.

The number of working children has increased since unrest in Syria forced hundreds of thousands to flee into neighbouring Jordan. Many Syrian refugee children have been forced into work, and some have even become their family’s sole breadwinners. Other Syrian children have managed to enroll into Jordan’s education system, but their arrival has placed great strain on schools in host communities.

Syrian refugee children in Jordan tend to take on work in labour-intensive sectors. A recent ILO study found Syrian refugee children were particularly vulnerable to child labour in both informal urban and agricultural sectors, as well as in refugee camps. They worked up to 8 hours per day, often under hazardous conditions, in order to earn extra income to support their families.

Hamada Abu Nijmeh, Secretary General of the Ministry of Labour, holds a meeting in his office with the head of his ministry’s Child Labour Unit and the Non-Formal Education Officer from the Ministry of Education, as well as ILO representatives to discuss joint activities as part of the ILO-IPEC Moving Towards a Child Labour Free Jordan project. The project is supporting key partners from the ministries of Labour, Education and Social Development to implement the National Framework to Combat Child Labour.

Focal points from the three ministries discuss the development of a national database to help identify and assess vulnerable children before their referral to the relevant service provider. This database was developed with the support of the ILO as part of the national framework implementation.

Fadi (not his real name), a 14-year old Jordanian from Amman, carries out backbreaking work in a grimy auto-repair shop. He is paid around US$28 a week and often works 11-hour days.

Government labour inspectors found Fadi and will now refer him to the relevant authorities for education and social assessments. His case will then be registered in the national database, allowing for close coordination between the ministries in reporting and tracking progress.

Head of the Juvenile and Behaviour Observation Division at the Ministry of Social Development discusses the implementation of the national framework with his staff at the ministry. After being successfully piloted in six governorates, the national framework, including the child labour database, is now being rolled out to the rest of the country.

The ILO is also working with its national partners to strengthen coordination mechanisms with particular emphasis on Syrian refugees and further strengthening child labour monitoring through training officials and improving the database. Enhancing awareness and strengthening the knowledge base on child labour are also key features of the ILO’s work.

The ILO will also begin working with partners on strengthening linkages between child labour and youth employment programmes, including apprenticeships to older children as an alternative to working in potentially hazardous sectors.

High youth unemployment in Jordan due to a number of problems experienced by young people in making the school-to-work transition highlights the need for quality and relevant education to develop skills necessary to succeed both in the labour market and in life generally.

After her parents divorced when she was very young, Gaida went to live with her grandmother. To make ends meet, she dropped out of school at the age of 13 and went to work with her aunt in a beauty salon.

But thanks to a government anti-child labour initiative, 17-year-old Gaida is back in education and is now more hopeful about the future than ever before. “Our family situation made me quit school when I was young but now I am studying again,” she said. “My dream is to become an Arabic teacher.”

We would like to extend special thanks to the ministries of Labour, Education and Social Development as well as the Social Support Centre for the assistance they offered the ILO in creating this photo essay.

Tags: child labour, youth employment, education, social development

Regions and countries covered: Jordan

ILO

Advancing social justice, promoting decent work

ILO is a specialized agency of the United Nations

Why is quality education critical in tackling child labour?