Kinnaird College for Women (KCW) in collaboration with Child Care Foundation of Pakistan (CCFP) organized a seminar titled “From Child Labour to Child Education” at the college’s Hadia Hall on Tuesday to mark International Child Labour Day and the 15th anniversary of CCFP.
A large number of public and private sector representatives, the business community, heads of educational institutions, NGOs, members of the civil society and students from various colleges attended the seminar. SOS Villages of Pakistan President Dr Suriya Anwar was the chief guest on the occasion, while CCF Goodwill Ambassador Justice Nasira Iqbal, Punjab Literacy & Non-Formal Basic Education Secretary Dr Allah Baksh Malik, Pakistan Today Editor Arif Nizami, Punjab Education Foundation Chairman Mohammad Raja Anwar, DCHD Director Mrs Tanveer Jahan, KCW Principal Dr Rukhsana David, Board of Governors Chairman Dr Parvez Hassan and CCFP CEO Yasmin Zaki attended the seminar.
Dr Suriya, addressing the seminar, said that the economic exploitation of children was the humanity’s insult, while illiteracy was the biggest hurdle in the country’s progress. She said that the national plan of action depicted a rosy picture. She said that the dropout rates at schools could be reduced by improving the educational system. She said that Pakistan could reach a 98 percent primary education rate in 45 years. She believed that there was no better way to prevent child labor than through education.
KCW Principal Dr Rukhsana David said that to eradicate child labor and to make the youth, especially the future mothers, realize the importance of education, KCW had joined hands with CCFP.
Punjab Education Foundation Chairman Raja Muhammad Anwar said that the problem was not that a child made bricks but that he himself could not live in the house he made and could not walk on the carpet he weaved.
Pakistan Today Editor Arif Nizami appreciated CCFP management for its efforts in the field of child education and in combating child labour. He said that the media could highlight child labour in a more creative and objective way. He was of the view that poverty was one of the main problems behind child labour. “Owing to poverty and illiteracy, we are busy in producing terrorists. Pakistan is among a few countries where greater resources are allocated to defense at the expense of the social sector including health and education,” he said. Punjab Literacy and Non Formal Basic Education Secretary Dr Allah Buksh Malik said that Pakistan was ranked low in human resources. To eradicate child labor, the public had to be taken out of poverty, he said.
CCFP CEO Yasmin Zaki said that the third largest out-of-school population lived in Pakistan, 43 percent of population could not read or write, 7.8 million children were out of school due to the poverty while 3.8 million children aged between 5-14 years were directly or indirectly involved in child labour. In the presence of these facts, Pakistan’s total budget on education was only 1 to 2 percent of its GDP, she condemned.
Speakers greatly appreciated the CCFP documentary presented on the occasion and lauded CCFP’s 15-year long fight against child labour.