SARLAHI, March 12:Anyone visiting a brick factory in Sarlahi district might be surprised by a new initiative at work. While workers at New Tara Brick Factory situated at Laxmipur are busy making bricks, their children can be seen studying on the premises.
Bishnu Dev Sada, 42, and his wife Bijali Devi, 30, are among the laborers in the factory who bring their children along when they come to work.
But their two sons, Rahul and Mithun, and their nephew Babi do not come to work at the kiln.
Instead, the children come to study.
Just like many migrant workers, the couple work and stay in the factory for six months every year and spend the remaining months at their own home town. Although Bishnu wanted to send his children to school, he could not do so as they do not stay at one place throughout the year.
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“My father didn’t send me to school and even I didn’t show any interest in studies,” said Bishnu. “But I’ll try my best to educate my sons and nephew.”
New Tara Brick Factory has initiated Better Brick Nepal project. As part of the project, they have set up “Primary Child Development and Teaching Center,” which provides education to the children of its workers. The center has been providing education to 25 children since last month.
“We were planning to quit the factory as we were not paid on time. However, we decided to continue working after the factory made arrangements to provide education to our children,” Bishnu said.
Similarly, Shakti Brick Factory, which is located close to New Tara, pays its workers on time and also provides learning opportunities to their children. “We continue to work here for a low payment just for the sake of our children’s future,” he added.
But it comes as a shock that more than 50 children below 10 years are forced do risky work at Shakti Brick factory.
Sarlahi has 55 brick factories and around seven thousand laborers are employed by the industry, according to Nagendra Sah, chairman of Sarlahi Brick Factory Entrepreneur Association. “Each brick factory has more than 25 children,” said Dinesh Ghimire, chairman of Sarlahi Child Protection Organization.
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