“Children should be at school not at work” – CAGI Consultant Advisor

DPI, GUYANA, Wednesday, April 18, 2018

This year, the World Day for Safety and Health at Work (April 28) and the World Day Against Child Labour (June 12) will focus on the global need to improve the safety and health of young workers and end child labour.

At the Ministry of Social Protection symposium on Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) at the Guyana Industrial Training Centre (GITC) today, Consultative Association of Guyanese Industry (CAGI) Advisor, Samuel Goolsarran highlighted the issue of child labour noting the negative effects it has on not only the children but the country at large.

“CAGI recognises that child labour is a scourge on society, it denies childhood which should be dedicated to education and development. It jeopardises the child’s potential at becoming a productive adult for community life and puts at risk a country’s long-term productivity by denying education to the future workforce,” Goolsarran stated.

The Advisor further noted that certain situations under which the children are placed can be detrimental to their health and their physical and mental development, causing irreversible damage. This, Goolsarran said, encroaches upon national and international laws and deprives the future workforce of a productive employee.

Goolsarran gave assurance, that on behalf of the fight against child labour.  “CAGI will continue to be an active advocate against child labour and promote a culture of safety and health work. We joined with the international community to emphasise the training that is required to promote safety and health and we join also with the movement against child labour and would emphasise and campaign heavily, that children should be at school not at work, they should be growing, developing and learning.”

The joint campaign of World Day for Safety and Health at Work and the World Day Against Child Labour highlights the critical importance of improving the safety and well-being of young people above the minimum legal age for work and to combat child labour. The campaign also seeks to ensure children have access to quality education, attend school until they complete compulsory education and reach the minimum legal age for work.

The joint campaign aims to accelerate action to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 8.8 of ensuring safe and secure working environments for all workers by 2030 and SDG target 8.7 of ending all forms of child labour by 2025.

Achieving these goals for the benefit of the next generation of the global workforce requires a concerted and integrated approach to eliminating child labour and promoting a culture of prevention on Occupational Safety Health (OSH).

 

By: Stephon Gabriel