Poverty, community pressure and the low quality of education mean that 25 percent of children in Afghanistan aged seven-14 are at risk of leaving school and drifting into exploitative work environments, according to a new report by a Kabul-based think-tank. A report by the Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU), published in late May, includes a number of recommendations for the government and NGOs. The report recommends early intervention to stop children from prematurely entering workplaces by focusing on improving the quality of education, and providing more employment opportunities for adults.
High price of education, lack of role models and family pressures are commonly cited reasons for the visible employment of children in backstreet workshops, factories or as domestic servants in households across this war-and insurgency-ravaged country (pop.32.7 million). Child labour linked to the high incidence of poverty, is a serious problem in Afghanistan. While the study shows poverty alone does not drive families to put children into work, it does raise the risk that children will work. Inability to protect children… will have long-term implications for development in Afghanistan, says AREU director Paula Kantor.
Education quality and access play key roles in household decision-making about child labour. The shortage of professional teachers, books and schools also has an impact on children leaving school prematurely, adds Fawad Sahil, external relations officer of Unicef (Afghanistan).
According to Unicef, 24 percent of Afghan children aged seven-14 are in employment. This despite the UN General Assembly having proclaimed the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) in 1989, which prohibits engagement of children in work deemed to be hazardous or likely to interfere with a childs education, or to be harmful to childrens health. Moreover Afghanistan is one of 14 countries which has not signed the 1999 International Labour Organisation Convention 182 on the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour.
Against this backdrop, Unicef has established 3,724 community based schools in remote rural areas, increasing the number of children in education from 1.78 million in 2002 to more than 6.14 million in 2008, of whom 2.19 million are girls, says a Unicef statement.
Support and in-service training at national level for teachers is also being provided by the fund, in partnership with the US Agency for International Development and the World Bank. Children should not be used as labour. They need to be in school for education and have the opportunity to access proper food, basic health services and playgrounds, says Sifat Rahimee, assistant minister of education.
Accordingly, the education ministry is planning to increase the number of schools to 17,000 within the next five years, recruit qualified teachers, and expand the network of teacher training colleges, says Rahimee. The ministries of labour and social affairs, rural development and the Afghan Red Crescent have welfare programmes which support poor families and working children, he adds.

(Excerpted and adapted from www.irinnews.org)