Teachers meet vs. child labor

CEBU – In hope to curb the problem on child labor in the country, a group of more than 40 public school teachers recently gathered at the Ecotech Center in barangay Lahug for a training on how to combat child labor cases in the Philippines through education.

The activity, which aims to develop among the teachers a deeper understanding of the child labor issues and the importance of education as a solution to the problem, was part of a special project dubbed as the Pag-Aaral ng Bata para sa Kinabukasan Initiative (ABK2).

The ABK2 is spearheaded by the World Vision Development Foundation (WVDF) in partnership with Christian Children’s Fund, Educational Research and Development Assistance Foundation Inc. and was sponsored by the United States Department of Labor.

“Through this training, our teachers will be better equipped to empower the working children, out-of-school youth, and children at risk and help improve the quality of their lives,” Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said in a press release.

DepEd cited the provinces of Bulacan, Camarines Norte, Cebu, Compostela Valley, Davao, Davao del Sur, Iloilo, Leyte, Negros Occidental, and Negros Oriental have high incidences of worst forms of child labor.

Based on the National Statistics Office Survey on Children in 2001, 2.4 million Filipino children aged between 5 to 17 years old are working into worst forms of child labor.

WVDF executive director Elnora Avarientos said that these children, instead being in schools, are working in commercial agriculture, domestic work, pyrotechnics business, mining and quarrying, sexual exploitation and scavenging.

According to Daphne Culanag, project director of ABK2 Initiative, they hope to train 500 teachers who will serve as advocates for children’s rights to education. “We hope that such initiatives will radiate to other communities and engage everyone in building a community with child labor,” she told The FREEMAN.

Rebecca Ouano, a teacher at Tejero Elementary School said the training was very helpful in bringing indigent children back to school. She admitted that she has students, aged 10 years old up, who are already working but are still in their primary education or do not yet know how to read and write. — Bentley Naire Luyong /WAB (THE FREEMAN)