On this Labour Day

On this Labour Day, lets resolve to provide our children a better future. Children are assets of our country. They should enjoy their childhood and not work in any hazardous jobs. Child labour remains a serious problem in many parts of the world. Many of these children live in underdeveloped countries. Their living conditions are crude and their chances of getting education are minimal.

Child labour is a designation formerly applied to the practice of employing young children in factories, now used to denote the employment of minors generally and especially in the work that may interfere with their education or endangers their health.

In all cultures children joined their parents in work in the fields, in the marketplace and around the home as soon as they were old enough to perform simple tasks. The use of child labour was not regarded a social problem until the introduction of the factory system. Children in these circumstances lead to poor health and suffer from various diseases such as malnutrition, skin diseases etc.

Due to lack of literacy level and poverty, parents force their children to work and earn some money. Preventing children from enjoying their childhood, hampering their development and causing lifelong physical or psychological damage is not only a detriment to families but also to communities and to society as well. For this the government should provide free education systems to the children.

SAIMA SHAHID

Karachi