RISING economic inequality has kept millions of children away from school and has forced them into the global workforce. Nearly 215 million children between aged 5-17 years work in illegal, hazardous or extremely exploitative conditions across the world, particularly in the Third World, according to the findings of the International Labour Organisation. The responsibility lies on the state to protect the rights of children, save them from economic exploitation and bar them from performing work that is likely to be hazardous or interfere with their education.

In Pakistan, children work as domestic workers, helping with the day-to-day tasks of running a household. Many of these children are paid a pittance, or nothing at all in lieu of a space to sleep and permission to consume leftover food. There are many instances where children are forced to work as domestic slaves and their personal freedom is extremely restricted or totally denied.

Children should be in schools and playgrounds, and not in the kitchens. They are meant to dream, and not to mop floors. They need to be given education, and not a beating for a task not done.

Midra Khan
Karachi

Published in Dawn, November 5th, 2020