Child labour: A sad situation

Child labour is prevalent in developing countries including Pakistan and successive governments have been unable to find a solution so that it can be eliminated and children in the work force reclaim their childhood. Supporting their families; being used and abused, these young workers are older and wiser than their years because they ‘grow up’ quickly, missing out on the perks other children enjoy while leading a normal life.

Take the boy in the photograph. He must have been about eight or nine years old. (he did not know his age) Skinny; quite well dressed but his clothes were dusty; wearing spectacles and innocent looking, he was filling air in the tyres of different vehicles instead of learning a lesson or participating in sports and other extra- curricular activities. He works at a tire repair shop and would not answer questions about whether it belonged to his father; another relative or a person who had hired him.

He gave a blank look and no reply when asked if he would like to go to school, almost as if he was afraid to voice a wish that may never be fulfilled - or it may have been out of trepidation in case his ‘boss’ was listening, although the man was busy mending a tyre.

With the Naya Pakistan government vowing to put all children in school, it is sincerely hoped that they manage to do what other governments have failed to achieve. We need to concentrate on looking after the children’s well being in all aspects so that they grow up to be healthy, happy and able to contribute in a more positive manner to take the country out of the developing category into a developed one.