KATHMANDU, June 12: A new study has said around 27 percent of children who are working as child laborers at brick kilns in Kathmandu valley are being deprived of their right to attend schools.
A survey conducted in Kathmandu, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur districts was released on the World Day Against Child Labor in Kathmandu on Sunday.
Kiran Thapa, program director at Child Development Society, informed that a total of 40.58 percent children aged 5 to15 years are out of school, with many of them working to supplement family income. The report has further pointed out that 17.31 percent children ranging in age from 15 to 18 years are directly engaged in brick kiln work.
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"The younger children usually accompany their mothers to the factories," said Thapa. "They play with the mud and learn early on to become a kiln worker."
He said the kiln workers and their families are at constantly at risk due to unsafe shelters. "The girls are particularly vulnerable in lack of toilets," Thapa said.
The data were collected from 108 brick factories inside the valley and involved interviews with families and children of kiln workers.
While launching the study entitled "Child Labor in Brick Kilns: Invisible and Ignored Complexities," Director General at Department of Labor Kedar Bahadur Bogati said that the study shows how child labor is rampant at brick kilns.
"We have made remarkable progress in this field but still we have certain limitations when it comes to ending this situation," said Bogati.
According to the International Labour Organization's country office in Nepal, around 40.4 percent of the total 7.7 million children aged between 5-17 years are working in different kinds of menial works in Nepal.
ILO estimates that around 168 million children around the world are engaged in child labor.
