Child-and-adult-labour-in-the-export-oriented-garment-and-gem-polishing-industry-of-India

50
Child and adult labour in the garment export industry of Tirupur
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ard. At that time children are around 9 to 10 years old, which is the age at which parents send
them to work. The interviews revealed that the girl children dropped out earlier than the boy
children.
Most of the interviewed children had stopped their education at the moment they migrated to
Tirupur. In Tirupur they started working and never enroled in school again. Migration of the
family, interrupts with the education of the child, who is therefore more likely to join the workforce.
More study is needed on this point. The interviewed children preferred to join the regular
school again but said that it was not possible because they were needed to contribute to the family
income.
Though the surveys of CSED and Ms. Edmunds, mentioned in paragraph 4.3, revealed that the
parents lacked the motivation towards education and preferred to send their child to work, my
findings show the opposite. The interviews with the working children who combine work with
education, revealed that their parents wanted them to continue to study too. The reasons of
parents to send their children to school after work, were stated by children in phrases like 'my
parents want me at least to learn to read and write' and 'my parents say that education will benefit
me later in life'. The parents, however, did not withdraw the children from the work. The
consequence was that the children were often too tired to concentrate in the evening school.
From results of this study it can be concluded that if the possibility of (free) education is available
and if the parents are made aware of the education, the parents are motivated to send their children
to school. The interviewed children regretted that they could not go to the regular day
schools, but said that still they were very eager to learn. The children said the non-formal education
contained, among other things, learning to read and write and to speak the local language
besides Hindi and English.
The sad fact, however, is that the children were not able to attend the non-formal education centre
regularly due to regular overtime work. At the time they arrived home, the evening centre had already
closed. The combination of work and education was also very tiring, according to the
children. The double burden the children had to carry at too early an age, was too heavy. The
children realized that full time education without working in the factory would be better and more
useful than the irregular moments they attended the non-formal education centre while being too
tired to concentrate on the lessons. But still, the children liked the lessons in the centre and the joy
of being together and play with other children.
Having talked to these children thoroughly, I have come to the conclusion that non-formal
education centres in the evening - and thus combining work with education - is not the solution to
end child labour. It will affect their health negatively, since combining (full-time) work with
education leaves the children less time for rest, regular meals and play. As said earlier, due to
long working hours preceding the evening education, children had problems with absorbing the
education.
Recreation
The survey revealed that, due to the exhausting and long working hours almost every day,