Campaign launched for the elimination of child labor

JAKARTA (JP): The Ministry of National Education and the International Labor Organization (ILO) on Friday launched a national campaign for the elimination of child labor, which aims to equip the country's 19.2 million school-age children with improved basic education.

The program -- also supported by UNESCO, UNDP and Unicef -- is aimed at providing working children with adequate basic education through alternative programs.

"The child labor project, slated to start next year, will consist of the Paket A program, which is equivalent to elementary school, and the Paket B program which duplicates junior high school material," Minister of National Education Yahya Muhaimin said after an event launching the project.

Yahya also said that, due to the prolonged economic crisis, implementation of the nine-year compulsory education program, which was scheduled to be completed by 2003, may not be accomplished for another three or four years after that.

Tool kits for Paket A and Paket B will be distributed to children who join the program, which is expected to be conducted in industrial areas where many child laborers work, such as in the Greater Jakarta area.

"Under the program working children can participate in lessons without leaving their jobs," Yahya said.

The ministry's data from 1994/1995 to 1998/1999 shows that at least 11.7 million of the country's children have not yet completed either formal or non-formal education, with many of them ending up in the work force as child laborers.

Meanwhile, 7.5 million children within the school age are not enrolled in school.

Child labor activist and a member of the National Commission on Children, Arist Merdeka Sirait, however, revealed that no less than 25,000 to 30,000 children are working in 8,200 factories in the Greater Jakarta area.

"The hidden number is definitely far higher, as it is estimated that there are around 6.5 million child laborers nationwide, 2.3 million of whom are working on industrial sites," Arist said.

Arist called on the government not to just provide those children with alternative education but also an official diploma to recognize their qualifications and elevate their status for the future.

Meanwhile, chairman of the Indonesian Teachers Union (PGRI) Mohammad Surya said that PGRI have produced 4,000 information packages for distribution throughout all regions to combat child labor and help educate the children.

"There are 1,000 open junior high schools and around 2,000 elementary schools located in areas prone to child labor which are ready to help them," he said.

Formal education programs that have previously been used for these children have often provided junior high school studies in small open-air sessions or by correspondence.

Statistical data in May 1998 revealed that at least 40 percent of the country's 204,567,000 people live below the poverty line.

To date, the number of children enrolled in primary and junior secondary education, between seven and 15 years of age, is estimated at around 39 million. (edt)