Better protection of child workers urged
Better protection of child workers urged
JAKARTA (JP): Leading activist Mrs. Kardinah Soepardjo Rustam called for better protection of the growing number of Indonesian child workers on Wednesday.
The former head of the internationally-recognized Family Welfare Movement said the government should translate its commitment to protect the rights of children into wide-ranging actions.
Indonesia ratified the international convention on the rights of the child in 1990.
Speaking during a break in a workshop on women on Wednesday, Kardinah called on employers to provide employment for children from poor families while ensuring they get proper schooling.
"Employers should be responsible for the children's studies," said Kardinah, the widow of Soepardjo Rustam, a former home affairs minister. She now heads the Participatory Development Forum, a non-governmental organization.
The workshop focused on the Platform for Action, a document issued at September's Fourth World Conference on Women in the People's Republic of China.
The participants discussed how the document's plans regarding the condition of female children, termed "the girl child," could be implemented in Indonesia.
Tati Hartono of the Indonesian Women's Congress organization Kowani pointed out that girls are often made to stay at home, despite the government's drive for nine-years of schooling for all children.
"Girls are still required to help their parents, especially in villages," she said.
In 1993 the Ministry of Manpower announced it will be more strict in enforcing child labor rules, in line with the extension of compulsory schooling from six to nine years.
A 1987 Ministry of Manpower decree allows children between 10 and 14 to be employed for a maximum of four hours a day, given the realities poor families face.
The decree also states that the children's wages must equal adult wages, and that the employers must pay for the children's schooling.
Kardinah said enforcing this rule would be a start toward improving the fate of the Indonesian girl child.
The government admitted in 1993 that there are about 2 million child workers. Activists, however, believe the figure is much higher. (anr)