The reply further stated that the maiden and only national level survey regarding child labour was conducted in 1996 under which 1.058 children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were identified economically effective. The present PTI-led provincial government has allocated fund for conducting similar survey to collect fresh statistics of the child labour. Work on the survey will be initiated soon after the conclusion of the process of national census.
The survey is expected to complete by the end of the current calendar year of 2017. However, as so far the issue of the provision of education and child labour is concerned, the provincial government had promulgated the Prevention of Child Labour Act 2015, which contains stern punishments for violators.
Furthermore, a separate office regarding child labour has also been opened in the Directorate of Labour, which is wholly and solely responsible for the monitoring of the issue. Meanwhile, the provincial government is also working on drafting a policy on child labour, which will cover all those gray areas to be identified in the proposed survey and prepare a comprehensive system for the abolition of child labour in the province.
The legislators had also been informed that the provincial government while fulfilling its constitution obligations regarding provision of education to children has presented KP Free Primary and Secondary Education Bill, 2017 in the house, which ultimately pave way for the enrollment of all out of school children to schools. Besides, administrative side, the government is also concentrating on bringing improvement in the conditions of the existing schools, which will also bring positive impact on the education of children in the province.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2017