200 children withdrawn from working and placed back into school

200 children have been withdrawn from working and have been placed back into school.                                                          

This has been highlighted in parliament by the Minister for Employment, Productivity and Industrial Relations, Jone Usamate in his ministerial statement adding that they have also successfully prosecuted one employer for the employment of a child and the employer was convicted and fined $8,000.

Usamate says that the Committee on Eradication of Child Labour that includes Social Welfare, Police, Provincial Administrators, District Officers and the Ministry of Education work to help identify children who are working but should be at school, to take them back and place them in schools.

He says that the Ministry of Employment has trained school teachers, police officers, sugarcane farmers, Fiji Sugar Corporation Field Officers, community workers and labour inspectors on child labour awareness and monitoring programs.

The Minister for Employment has also pointed out that a child who is 15 years and above can be employed in light and non-hazardous work after school and during school holidays where the parents or guardians must provide written consent to the employer authorizing their child to be employed adding that no child shall be employed during school hours.

While responding to his statement, Opposition MP, Mikaele Leawere says child labour is not so much spread over the economy adding that there are some specific sectors that need to be targeted to curb and control the matter.

NFP MP, Prem Singh says children under the age of 15 years should be in school however he adds that they can also help their parents as long as they are not engaged in a hazardous or harmful environment.