Child labour in Nepal

The incidence of child labour in Nepal is relatively high compared with other countries in South Asia.^[1] According to data from the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) and other national surveys, Nepal has 34% of its children between the age of 5 and 14 who are involved in child labour, compared with 12% in the South Asia region as a whole.

There are more female than male child labourers, and the situation is worse in rural than urban areas. In 2010, 44% of children age 5 to 14 were involved in child labour activities in the mid- and far-western regions of Nepal. According to the Nepal Labour Force Survey (NLFS) in 2008, 86.2% of children who were working were also studying and 13.8% of the children work only. A comparison over the years of child labour force participation rate across gender and residence is shown in Table 1 below:

Most children (60.5%) work up to 19 hours in 2008, while 32.2% worked 20 to 40 hours a week and 7.3% worked for more than 40 hours in a week. This trend is consistent in both rural and urban areas. In the 2003/2004 Nepal Living Standards Survey Statistical Report Volume II, it was found that children from the poorest consumption quintile has the highest percentage (18.7%) of children who worked for more than 40 hours a week as compared with the rest of the consumption quintile.

According to Ray (2004),^[6] child schooling and child labour force participation rates are negatively correlated as there is a trade-off between the two variables. Thus, an increase in labour hours would mean lesser time for schooling, and lesser work hours equals to an increase in time spent for schooling.

Industries in which children work

The NLFS also found that 88.7% of the working children are being employed in the agricultural sector. 1.4% of employed children work in the manufacturing sector, 0.3% works in construction sector, 1.6% is employed in wholesale and retail trade, 1.0% works in hotels and restaurants, 0.1% are working in private households with employed persons, and 6.9% work in other types of industries. Those who are working in the agricultural sector are mostly subsistence farmers. About 78.1% of these working children are engaged in subsistence farming.

In 2013, the U.S. Department of Labor reported that children in Nepal are engaged "in agriculture and the worst forms of child labor in commercial sexual exploitation".^[7] The report indicated other industrial activities like mining and stone breaking, weaving, and domestic service. In 2014, the Department's List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor reported bricks, carpets, embellished textiles and stones as goods produced in such labor conditions by both child laborers and forced workers.

Impact of child labour on development

According to Galli (2001),^[8] in the long run, child labour impedes long run economic growth through slower rate of human capital accumulation. One way in which human capital is accumulated is through education. As working takes up time for children to go to school, rate of human capital accumulation is negatively affected.

In addition, according to the United Nations Children’s Fund, the welfare of children is also affected as children may work under exploitative working conditions. This may have negative impacts on their health and psychology^[9]

Tackling child labour in Nepal

Given the seriousness of the issue of child labour in Nepal, there are several Non-governmental Organizations that are based in Nepal to tackle the problem of child labour through improving educational standards. An example is Educate the Children (International).

Educate the Children (International) is a non-profit organization that was set up by Pamela Carson in 1990 in order to help disadvantaged children in Nepal. It focuses on educating children and empowering women. Since 2009, some 4170 children have benefited from improvements in school infrastructure and quality of teaching.

Approach

Educate the Children (ETC) helps improve literacy rates through various channels.

Scholarships
One of which is through giving scholarships. There are three scholarship programs that ETC provides:

1. Community Scholarship, where students in Nepal are paired with sponsors in United States of America and Europe.
2. The Dalit scholarship provides assistance to the marginalized group of students from the Dalit community.
3. The Higher Education Scholarship is awarded to students who are needy and who have performed excellently to further their education.

Improving infrastructure
ETC has also improved the infrastructure of schools with the help of Ross Foundation. In 2011, 12 new kindergartens and first grade classrooms in six different schools in Dolakha were built. By improving the infrastructure of schools and the quality of teaching, parents have more incentives to send their children to school instead of sending them to work.

Improving Quality of Teachers
ETC also plays a part in providing training for teachers to improve the quality of education in Nepal. These trainings have various objectives, which include making classrooms safe for children and increasing the general knowledge and skills of teachers.

Achievement

An independent evaluation commissioned to investigate comprehensively ETC's work in Nepal reported on the difference of the programs and their lasting contribution to the lives of the participants.

They are: As compared to the national women's literacy rate of 69%, 91% of women who participate in ETC women's group programs achieve basic literacy, passing the literacy exam.

1. After the participants had learnt how to cultivate and sell their kitchen garden excess, the average household income of women's group participants is on average 15,347 rupees higher than non-participant households.
2. 69% of women's group participants enrol their children in school, hence, there was a significantly lower dropout rate in ETC areas (at all grade levels) than the national average.
3. Comparing those who do not attend ETC pre-primary education programs, a significantly higher rate of students who completed the ETC kindergarten program passes the SLC exam.^[10]

References