question_answer 12)

Why should child labour be eliminated and how?    

Answer:

There are various harmful effects of child labour. These include; (a) Economic exploitation: Children may only receive one quarter of adult wages. (b) Long working hours: Some children are expected to work for excessive hours, for                              example, up to 12-16 hours per day. (c) Loss of educational opportunities: Many children who work, either withdraw from school                    or find that their educational performance declines because of the work they are doing. (d) Physical harm: Working children may experience physical harm in a number of ways in                    terms of: (i) Increased risk of accidents (ii) Risk of physical violence from people in authority (iii) Violent theft is a risk faced by child street vendors (iv) Risk of illness from poor hygiene and exposure to bad weather (v) Harmful effects of chemicals (e) Abuse and exploitation: (t is essentially a socio-economic problem inextricably linked to                  poverty and illiteracy. It will require concerted efforts from all sections of the society to                       make a dent in the problem. It can be eliminated by: (i)  Legislative action plan (ii) Focusing general developmental programmes for benefitting child labour (iii) Subsidizing education (iv) Providing basic necessities