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Protect our future

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-06-12 07:48

Today marks the World Day Against Child Labor with the theme - Education: the right response to child labor.

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC) that has just sent teams to inspect the enforcement of laws on protection of minors should seize the chance to urge aggressive local efforts to root out child labor.

Significant progress is being made worldwide in combating child labor, but the effective abolition of child labor remains one of the most urgent challenges of our time.

According to the International Labor Organization, more than 200 million children in the world today are still involved in labor. And many of these children work long hours, often in dangerous conditions.

Globally, child labor is closely associated with poverty. Many poor families are just unable to afford school fees or other school costs. Some even place more importance on what a working child can earn than her or his education.

China is no exception though robust economic growth over the past three decades has substantially reduced its number of poverty-stricken families.

Reports of child labor in recent years only highlighted the urgency to address such problems.

A year ago, the public was shocked by a scandal that some brick kiln owners in Shanxi province had forced hundreds of people, including teens, to work as slaves. Later, 95 local supervision and administrative officials were punished for dereliction of duty.

Less than two months ago, the nation was appalled again by a report that more than 1,000 children, aged between 9 and 16 from poor families in Liangshan, Sichuan province, have been lured to work as cheap labor in Dongguan, Guangdong province.

All these tragedies exposed loose implementation of the law on protection of minors, which explicitly bans child labor and emphasizes children' right to education.

By making protection of minors the first target of law enforcement inspection this year, the 11th NPC standing committee has effectively raised public awareness of the problem of child labor and given a new urgency to removing children from work-related situations.

Education that enables our children to fully develop their talents and strengths is the key to the future of not only their families but also of our society.

The whole nation must strive for children to enjoy their childhood, playing, learning and preparing for a decent working life as adults and parents.

(China Daily 06/12/2008 page8)