Hanoi (VNA) – Vietnamcurrently has about 1.75 million labourers who are children or adolescents,mostly in big cities, including Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, accordingto a Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) official.
Dang Hoa Nam, head ofthe Department of Children Protection and Care under the MOLISA, said that 67percent of the labourers work in agriculture, 16 percent in construction and 17percent in services.
Nam stressed that the ratio of unschooled childrenremained high. As many as 52 percent of the surveyed children have left school,45.2 percent are still attending school and 2.8 percent have never accessedschooling.
On average they workbetween 11-16 hours a day at low wages. Those who work in restaurants receive themost of 1.8-2 million VND per month, while many are unpaid, Nam said at a MOLISA conference in Hanoi on December 1 onguidelines for the prevention of children labourers in 2016-2020.
Participants at the event attributedthe problem to poverty, shortcomings in detecting and handling childrenlabourers in non-official economic sectors and a confusing definition of childrenlabourers.
MOLISA Deputy Minister DaoHong Lan said that the programme to tackle child labour from 2016 to 2020 wasapproved by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in June this year.
This is a foundation to implementmeasures to protect children, she said, noting that models have been set up to equipchildren with skills to protect themselves and support their families.
At the same time, inspectionsand strict punishments on child labour abuse will be strengthened, along with educationon child abuse prevention.
Lan said that Vietnamfaces many challenges to deal with child labour abuse by 2020, as the awarenessof children, their families and employers remains poor.
She underscored the need toimprove the capacity of law enforcement, as well as mobilise the engagement of allof society, including children’s families, businesses, trade unions and socialorganisations to end child labour.-VNA
Dang Hoa Nam, head ofthe Department of Children Protection and Care under the MOLISA, said that 67percent of the labourers work in agriculture, 16 percent in construction and 17percent in services.
Nam stressed that the ratio of unschooled childrenremained high. As many as 52 percent of the surveyed children have left school,45.2 percent are still attending school and 2.8 percent have never accessedschooling.
On average they workbetween 11-16 hours a day at low wages. Those who work in restaurants receive themost of 1.8-2 million VND per month, while many are unpaid, Nam said at a MOLISA conference in Hanoi on December 1 onguidelines for the prevention of children labourers in 2016-2020.
Participants at the event attributedthe problem to poverty, shortcomings in detecting and handling childrenlabourers in non-official economic sectors and a confusing definition of childrenlabourers.
MOLISA Deputy Minister DaoHong Lan said that the programme to tackle child labour from 2016 to 2020 wasapproved by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in June this year.
This is a foundation to implementmeasures to protect children, she said, noting that models have been set up to equipchildren with skills to protect themselves and support their families.
At the same time, inspectionsand strict punishments on child labour abuse will be strengthened, along with educationon child abuse prevention.
Lan said that Vietnamfaces many challenges to deal with child labour abuse by 2020, as the awarenessof children, their families and employers remains poor.
She underscored the need toimprove the capacity of law enforcement, as well as mobilise the engagement of allof society, including children’s families, businesses, trade unions and socialorganisations to end child labour.-VNA
VNA