KHAR, Nov 20: Speakers at a seminar held here in connection with the Universal Children’s Day on Wednesday expressed concern over the increasing trend of corporal punishment in educational institutions and child labour in Bajaur Agency and urged the government to make serious efforts to improve the state of child rights in the agency in particular and in tribal areas in general.

Child Protection Unit and Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child (Sparc) organised the seminar in collaboration with Pakistan Baitul Mal here, where political workers, tribal elders, social activists, educationists and officials of the education deportment were in attendance.

Agency Coordinator at Child Protection Unit Majid Ali Khan, Sparc Agency Coordinator Hanifullah Jan, Pakistan Baitul Mal School, Bajaur Principal Allauddin Khan and several tribal elders spoke on the occasion.

Sparc Coordinator Hanifullah Jan said according to a survey, over 67 per cent of the children in the agency were involved in child labour and that the children became victims of corporal punishment at their workplaces.

He said Sparc had planned to hold the day by celebrating a week-long postcards campaign across the agency.

Other speakers said like other countries of the world, the Universal Children’s Day was celebrated in Pakistan every year but only celebrating the day would not help the children in the country as the real issue that needed to be addressed was how to stop corporal punishment.

They said it was time that everyone should understand the problems faced by children in tribal areas and accelerate efforts for creating awareness against corporal punishment.

The speakers said a large number of out of school children had been pushed into child labour for several years due to growing corporal punishment and lack of proper education facilities in the tribal areas.

They urged the government to take concrete steps for the welfare of children by providing proper education facilities and healthy enlivenment to them.

The speakers asked the government to accelerate efforts for stopping corporal punishment at educational institutions in tribal areas.