| Guyana has been examining ways to sustain several initiatives undertaken to prevent child labour over the past four years with support from the European Union.Stakeholders have gathered to deliberate on ways forward once funding has been exhausted under the Government of Guyana/International Labour Organisation, International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) that began in October 2008.The project, Tackling Child Labour Through Education (Tackle), is being led by the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security with support from the European Union and other local partners.Speaking at the recent opening ceremony of the sustainability workshop, Minister of Labour,Wholesale MLB Jerseys 2018, Dr. Nanda Kishore Gopaul, noted, “If we want to eliminate child labour, we have to ensure that every child completes secondary education and capitalizes on educational opportunities available at other levels.“We in the Government have recognized that this is a challenge and we have taken steps to ensure that children attend and complete school,Wholesale Jerseys, but this has been particularly challenging at the secondary level and in hinterland areas where there are fewer schools and schools are located far away from children’s homes,” Dr. Gopaul said.The Government has responded with several programmes, including providing free uniform, transportation, and hot meals and by expanding existing facilities and building new schools and dormitories,China Jerseys Cheap, including a new secondary school and dormitory being built at Kato, Region Eight.The Minister noted that these efforts have borne successes; there have been lower levels of absenteeism and increased attendance,nba jerseys discount, as well as increased number of children completing secondary school.Among the initiatives being looked at for sustainability are the mentoring programme, which began in 2011 in five secondary schools to address the issues of violence, antisocial behaviour, trust and respect; and the School Retention and Child Labour Prevention programme being implemented at Kuru Kuru Linden Soesdyke Highway for the benefit of 360 children who attend Dora Secondary school,China Adidas Hockey Jerseys, Kuru Kuru Primary and Kuru Kuru Nursery Class.In spite of the successes, Dr. Gopaul acknowledged that there are still children dropping out of school at an early age. He noted that several programmes have been designed to equip them with technical and vocation skills through the Board of Industrial Training.Nevertheless, he maintained that education is a key element in eliminating child labour and its causative factors such as poverty.“The emphasis has to be on education. Parents have a lot more to do. Even if the children have to help out,Cheap China Jerseys, it is parents’ responsibility to ensure they complete at least secondary school with good grades so that they could go on to pursue higher studies or become gainfully employed.There are scholarships available for those who want to study further and cannot afford it,” he said, referring to the many scholarships offered by the state to study abroad and locally, and the numerous opportunities for work that will arise as Guyana continues to develop.Ms. Constance Thomas, Director of the ILO IPEC noted the need for Government to lead the effort, but emphasized the need for a multi-stakeholder approach because even though one of the main contributory factors to child labour is poverty, there are other factors that are often overlooked, such as culture, health circumstances of family members,China Jersyes Cheap, child neglect and lack of stability within the family. She noted that social groups, businesses and the trade union movement are key players. |
