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Needs or rights? Education and the working child in South Asia

What is the nature of the conflict between the right of the child to education and the economic needs of the family? Which of these concerns should take priority? Should the state mediate in this ‘needs versus rights’ conflict? What is the status of child labour in the context of globalisation and international trade agreements?

A book from Sage Publications, the outcome of a DFID-funded workshop in New Delhi, presents a diverse range of perspectives concerning the many causes of, and solutions to, the problem of child labour in South Asia. Indian and Bangladeshi policy-makers, academics, child labour activists and practitioners delivering education to children outside the formal schooling system, reflect on the inter-relationship between needs and rights in societies characterised by extreme poverty and entrenched forms of social exclusion.

South Asia has both the largest number of child labourers in the world and the largest number of children out of school. While the challenges to universalising education are enormous and inequalities in access to education (derived from caste, religion, ethnicity and gender) are very stark, the region has pioneered innovative educational models for addressing the problems of hard-to-reach children.

Contributions to the book included conceptual pieces, as well as discussions of current policy approaches and innovative interventions in the area of education and child labour. Key themes explored in the book show how:

Attitudes to children vary significantly by class, caste, religion and regional location and different models of childhood emerge, the constructions of which reflect the interplay between local processes and global forces. Understanding the dynamics of these constructions is necessary for designing effective social policy.
The factors which explain exclusion from school and inclusion in the labour force are related but not identical. Standardised approaches which focus on a single trigger - e.g. education - may not be sufficient.
Work and play for poorer children do not fall into neat dichotomies. While working children value school and play, they often view work as an integral part of their lives, vital to helping parents who are struggling to make ends meet.
Global standards are often based on idealised constructions of childhood that put children in danger of pushed out of visible forms of work into hidden, often more dangerous work forms. Context- sensitive instruments which enable both rich and poor countries to collaborate to eliminate child labour are a preferred option.

The Convention on the Rights of the Child charges the state with the obligation to uphold a range of inter-related rights, including the right to education. However, the implementation of these rights requires serious reform in current state provision of education in terms of both the availability and quality of what is on offer.

Although, workshop participants disagreed fundamentally on key questions such as whether compromise with the needs of working children is tantamount to endorsing child labour, there was broad agreement that:

Children’s capacity to act and to change the world should be acknowledged and respected in attempts to devise policies to promote their interests.
Explanations for child labour and poor educational performance are mutually reinforcing rather than mutually exclusive.
Child labour laws should not be implemented without a deeper understanding of the lives of those most likely to be affected.
The increase in private provision of education risks increasing inequality further.
The most effective education policies are those which work together with initiatives to protect and promote household livelihoods.
Without serious political commitment at all tiers of government, educational outcomes in terms or equity and quality will not improve.

Source(s):
‘Child labour and the right to education in South Asia: Needs versus rights’, edited by N. Kabeer, G. B. Nambissan and R. Subrahmanian, Sage Publications, New Delhi, 2003

id21 Research Highlight: 8 January 2004

Further Information:
Naila Kabeer and Ramya Subrahmanian
Institute of Development Studies
University of Sussex
Brighton BN1 9RE
UK

Tel: +44 (0) 1273 606261
Fax: +44 (0)1273 621202/691647
Contact the contributor: N.Kabeer@ids.ac.uk

Contact the contributor: R.Subrahmanian@ids.ac.uk

Institute of Development Studies (IDS), UK

Geetha B. Nambissan
Zakir Hussain Centre for Educational Studies
Jawaharlal Nehru University
New Delhi
India

Zakir Hussain Centre for Educational Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University

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