The menace of child labour

The large number of child labourers in Pakistan, especially in our industrial towns and cities, is very lamentable. If the problem of child labour does not stop now, these children will grow up to be like their parents, in turn forcing their children to work and it will continue from generation to generation.

Sadly the child workers don’t know that they have rights since they are not educated. So if they don’t know, they can’t stand up for themselves. So we have to help them by educating them because education will lead to their success and that of our nation.

Suggestions on how to stop child labour

1. Review national laws regarding child labour.

2. Check the age of employees.

3. Ban hiring of children under 14.

4. Remove children from hazardous workplaces.

5. Avoided support to children found in child labour.

6. Support education.

I think the government should make education compulsory for children under the age of 14 and should make a very strict low that does not allow children under 14 to work in hazardous areas such as factories.

Children are future of a nation and their adequate development should be the greatest priority of any country. There are an estimated 186 million child labours worldwide, about one third of the children in the developing world are failing to complete even four years of formal education.

Uneducated parents are the main culprits here since they force their children to work in order to earn money.

Nelson Mandela said: “There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children.

Rania Ali Moeen,

Lahore

Goals

To an ambitious person, goals have great importance. Goals give a person a clear state of mind to achieve his dream. Without goals, life is full of hindrances. The achievement of one’s daily goals give a person true happiness.

To attain a goal, planning is very necessary. Goals without plans are just dreams. Visualise your goals daily. Make it a routine to measure your daily progress. You should remain persistent in trying to achieve your goal until you succeed. With hard work and effort, overcome the huddles in your path. Make your goals wisely and start working for them now!

Mudassir Iqbal,

Lahore

The new teacher

This is with reference to the story “The new teacher” by Rabia Saadi (YW, December 13, 2014). The story was a very nice reminder to all children that they should not take their teachers for granted and should respect them and never try to test their tolerance.

Mahnoor Mustafa,

Turbat

Published in Dawn, Young World, October 10th, 2020