PEOPLE who talk about eliminating child labour from Pakistan should really take a step towards reality. More than half of the population lives in poverty and struggles to get at least one meal a day; so eliminating the labour force is not a smart option.

Most of Pakistan’s population consists of children and young adults and they form a major part of the labour force.

If they are forced to sit at home and told to spend their days at school where they aren’t paid to learn, the motivational level would go down along with our already deteriorating economy. Besides, neither productivity nor the literacy rate would increase.

People have experimented by offering children free books and money to come to school but it hasn’t worked. Children would drop out again and start working like they did before because the money their schools gave them didn’t amount to what they earned.

Even if this would have worked out, the self-esteem of children would be destroyed as they get used to accepting charity instead of working hard to earn.

Children in Pakistan are adept at many skills: handicraft, woodwork, weaving, etc. They should be allowed to master these skills by offering them special training so that they can use these to earn better. These children will only be attracted towards education when their financial status gets better.

FARWA BATOOL NAQVI Karachi