~Child Labour Schools Company~
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Children - Too Young To Work Around the world every day, at least 250 million children who should be playing or at school are working. They mostly live in developing countries working in damaging and hazardous industries like forestry, brick making, charcoal burning, mining and explosives manufacture. They generally work 12 hour days or longer.Every day, some of these children die, fall ill or are injured by industrial diseases and accidents. Each day a child works it significantly reduces their life expectancy. Child labour breaks down ordinary family relationships and takes from children one of their most fundamental rights – the right to a childhood. From our relatively privileged lives and positions, it is hard to see how children could end up working instead of playing and learning. Whole families in many cases make their only income from seasonal piecework. They have daily targets to meet. If they don't meet the target they will not get paid. The targets are set deliberately too high for only the adults to achieve. Children work or the family does not survive. Needless to say, in the countries where child labour is prominent, there are no social security payments. Child labour is not a choice of children or of their families. It is a cruel necessity. Child labour exists even though it is illegal in almost all of the countries where it is prevalent. For example, there are more than 100 million child labourers in India alone, a country that has declared child labour to be illegal and has ratified the United Nations Conventions outlawing child labour. Real and committed efforts need to be made by governments in those countries where child labour exists. In addition, those of us who live in countries where child labour is not a problem have an obligation to assist with solutions. There have been many attempts over a long period of time to address child labour. Some of these have been marginally effective, but all too often they have been too short term or too focused on government and policy without a real and practical application. Child labour is a cyclical problem. A child labourer's children are likely to be child labourers because their parents know of no other work and do not have either the economic or educational means to break the cycle. It is now generally accepted that education is the key to breaking the cycle of child labour. For several years, the CFMEU's Forestry & Furnishing Products Division, Pulp & Paper Branch has funded the operation of 3 schools in India for child labourers. The schools are based in communities where child labour is rampant and where the communities themselves made the decision to pursue education as a solution to what they know is their unsustainable situation. The schools are so successful that the expected number of students has been exceeded and in many cases, families are both foregoing the income their children's labour previously provided and paying some contributions towards the cost of running the schools. Shortly, it is expected that the funding of at least one of the schools will be taken over by the regional government on a permanent basis. The establishment and operation of schools for children who would otherwise be working is a solution that can be repeated continuously, where the pre-conditions are met and funding is available. With that in mind, the Child Labour Schools Company was established as a further initiative of the CFMEU Forestry & Furnishing Products Division to assist in combating child labour. The Union and other people concerned to address this issue with more than just good intentions got together and made a formal commitment to do more about child labour in India. The aim of the Child Labour Schools Company is to raise funds for use in India to establish and operate schools with local community partners. The International Federation of Building and Wood Workers are our independent agents in India and we monitor closely the building and operation of the schools. 1st School Project - Uttar Pradesh, India Our first project was to fund the school buildings at one of the CFMEU schools. The former school was a thatched hut with more than 180 students. In some cases children were simply taught out in the open air or in other primitive shelters, as they did not have access to classrooms. The completed school consists of both primary and middle-level facilities, which are housed in a building of 14 fully furnished rooms and surrounded by a brick boundary fence. The local community (despite being among the world’s poorest people) donated one acre of land on which the first school currently operates. 2nd School Project - Residential school in Bihar, India The Child Labour Schools Company has already raised the amount required to build the second school, and it is currently under construction. This school will also include a residential facility for teachers and approximately 100 students, most of whom are orphaned and belong to lower castes. As these children have no parental care, the teachers will share the responsibility of being their guardians. 3rd School Project - Raising funds to build 3rd school The Child Labour Schools Company is in the process of raising the amount required to build the third school. Please take the time to look at our photo demonstrations which show the progress of the schools. These can be accessed from the menu on the left. Of course, building and operating schools does not come cheaply. A school for approximately 150 students and 6 teachers costs around $150,000 Australian dollars. Every dollar raised is applied to the building and operation of schools for child labourers in India. Every service required to operate the Child Labour Schools Company and the Fund are provided free of charge by supporters of the Child Labour Schools Company. Our aim is to permanently remove children and families from the evil that is child labour by removing them from the vicious cycle of child labour. It is our view that you and your organisation can help in a real and substantial way and on an ongoing basis. CLSC holds regular fund raising events and information sessions in the hopes of continuing to improve the lives of the people living, learning and working in India. If you would like to be notified of up and coming fundraising activities of the Child Labour Schools Company please contact us to go on our Contacts List. If you would like to find out more or make a donation to the Child Labour Schools Company please contact: Child Labour Overseas Aid Fund 1st Floor, 500 Swanston Street Carlton, VIC, 3053 Ph: +61 (0) 3 9349 2488 Fax: +61 (0) 3 9349 2580 |
