Good news for child workers

THE government will mark this year’s celebration of the World Day Against Child Labor with the implementation of a four-year project aimed at sending child workers to school, particularly in areas with high incidence of child labor.

Labor Secretary Marianito Roque said the DoLE will sign today an agreement with the World Vision Development Foundation and the Christian Children’s Fund to give child workers access to education.

The project, dubbed ABK2 (Pag-aaral ng mga Bata Para sa Kinabukasan) or TEACh (Take Every Action for Children), was launched at the DoLE head office in Intramuros, Manila last February.

The DoLE chief said child workers often drop out of school to work and supplement family income.

“To help the children sustain their schooling, the ABK2 project would provide resources and access to relevant education programs to targeted beneficiaries. Project activities would focus on reducing child workers’ barriers to attending formal school and expanding skills and business based learning opportunities for children ages 15-17 years old,” he said.

“Educating the children while providing their parents with income sources are the long-term solutions seen to break the bondage of poverty that ties child workers and their families to the cycle of child labor,” Roque said.

Parents of the beneficiaries will also be oriented to pro-poor programs that provide wage and livelihood opportunities to improve their economic status. The project will be implemented in the National Capital Region, Bulacan, Camarines Norte, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Cebu, Leyte, Davao del Sur, and Compostela Valley. –People’s Journal