259 children have been withdrawn from child labour from 2011 to date and they have received assistance from the government and other stakeholders to return them to school.
This has been highlighted by the Acting Minister for Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations Filimoni Vosarogo during the World Day against Child Labor at Metro Gym in Suva today.
Vosarogo says prior to COVID-19, globally there was a huge decline in child labor, unfortunately, that has increased from 152 million in the last two years to around 160 million as of today.
He says the government has invested greatly in child welfare programs to ensure our children are well protected and get the best possible care under the law. Assistant Secretary for Fiji Teachers Union Congress Rajnesh Lingam says teachers are the eyes and ears of students who are facing social problems, which brought them to drop out of school.
Lingam says with their partnership with ILO they have managed to conduct three workshops this year, one in the southern division, one in the northern and one in the western division.
He says during the workshop, teachers came up with a definition of child labour, the causes of child labour, and they were shocked with some of the causes that were identified by them because of the experiences that they went through in their school.
Chief of Regional Administrative Services for the International Labor Organization David Clarkson says in some countries child labour even leads to enslavement, separation from families and exposure to serious hazards and illnesses.
Clarkson says the International Labor Organization has been determined to abolish child labour.
Students from John Wesley College, Rishikul Sanatan College, Draiba Primary School, William Cross College, Stella Maris Primary, and Tacirua Primary School were also part of the event.
The theme for this year is Social Justice For All, End Child Labour.
