Campaign launched for the elimination of child labor

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)