Press Centre 2004/06/22: Child Protection

Working children -- a continuing problem

Nejat Başar for the Turkish Daily News, 22 June, 2004

One of the most dangerous and unfortunate consequences of social transformation in a developing country is child labour.

There are many facets of child labour. When the issue comes up, children working at car mechanics in industrial districts are the ones that immediately come to mind. There are also children, who work at your neighborhood store during their spare-time, just to help their parents. However, in the past few years, a more glaring image has replaced these. This is the image of a small child lying down on the pavement in most commercial districts, sent begging by the mafia or their families.

In the last decade many projects were undertaken by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), state institutions and civilian organisations to combat child labour and have produced important results.

The ILO Turkey Representative Gülay Aslantepe said on May 24, 2004 that they would be initiating a project for the elimination of child labour in the furniture sector in İzmir.

Aslantepe said there were 250 million child workers around the world, adding that their efforts in the last few years to eradicate child labour in İzmir were now being portrayed as an example by the ILO around the world.

She said the project would be completed on May 31, noting that a new project would be initiated targeting child workers in the furniture sector in İzmir, Ankara and Bursa. Aslantepe said that the total eradication of child labour in Turkey within the next 3 to 5 years was their objective.

Speaking at the joint ILO and Labour and Social Security Ministry conference on Ending the Worst Forms of Child Labour as of 2003 September 1, 2000, İzmir Deputy-Governor İsmail Üstüner, noted that his city had been chosen as the pilot case, adding he was very pleased with its success. He said the main reason behind the project’s success was the dynamism and commitment of amateurs. He also said that they, as the Governor’s Office, would continue to support such projects.

The state of children working at a car mechanics has changed over the years. The environment still leaves much to be desired, but they receive a proper education and it is obvious that they are better treated.

Kazım Yalçın (16), who works as a trainee at a car mechanic’s shop in Ankara’s industrial district said that he had started working last year in the area to help his family and was attending an apprenticeship school to receive a diploma. The school provides vocational education in addition to the proper high school curriculum. Still, the children are trained at work and receive no proper safety education, but it is a step up from past practice. Labour and Social Security Ministry Work Inspection Committee Chairman Fail Arseven said the success for the project in İzmir had added a new vigour to their efforts, and praised those who were involved in it.

İzmir Greater Municipality deputy-Secretary-General Serpil Güngör, said this project showed what could be done when state institutions cooperated with each other.

Labour and Social Security Ministry Work Inspection İzmir Branch President Sıdık Topaloğlu said they had reached 8,000 children as part of the project and 6,000 of them were now receiving education, while some parents were now attending vocational courses with job guarantees.

Hakan Caner (16), Sükrü Karaca (17) and Alper Ahmet Konca (16), who also work as trainee car mechanics in the Ankara Industrial district said they attended the Apprenticeship Schools and would like to open their own car mechanics shop in the future. Only Karaca said he has been working for 6 years in the area, while the other two said they had started working only recently. According to ILO statistics there are around 250 million child workers between the ages of 5 and 14 in the world. It is estimated that around 283 million children between the ages 12 and 17 are unable attend school, because they have to work.

Nationwide ILO programmes that aim to protect children are implemented by state institutions, voluntary organisations and relevant key groups (labour unions, labour inspectors, employers’ organisations, teachers, media, families, children and others). The Long-term goal of ILO is to put an end to child labour. It’s short to medium term objectives are the protection of children and the improvement of working conditions. However, socio-economic circumstances in various countries make the long term objective hard to achieve. That’s why ILO’s short-term objective is to end the worst forms of child labour as of 2003.

According to a Child Labour survey conducted in October, 1999, Turkey’s population was estimated at 63.4 million, with 16 million between the ages of 6 and 17. The survey found that 10.2% of this group, 1.63 million were working, while 78.8% attended schools.

The survey found that the primary reason why these children worked was in order to contribute to the family income (38.4%). It was followed by children helping in the family business (19.7%).

Families seem more aware of the need for their children to receive a proper education. Most of those middle aged owners of car mechanic shops were sent by their parents to work soon after completing their primary school education, at the age of 10 to 12, but things have started to change. The trainees are much older and they still attend school to receive an apprenticeship diploma.

Trainee Emin Atay (15) said he was not attending school, the only one to say so among those interviewed, but noted that he had been working in a mechanics shop for the last 1.5 months. He said many children of his age would be coming to work in the area during the coming summer holidays.

When the results of the ILO survey were compared to the one held in October, 1994, it was found that the proportion of children working between the ages of 6 and 14 has decreased significantly in the intervening years. In the 1994 survey, 8.5% of children between the ages of 6 and 14 were working, while in 1999, this figure was 4.2%.

Turkey is in the process of rapid urbanisation. Its economy is being transformed from farming based to industrial based. The lack of social protection and inability to adapt to urban life are the main causes for child labour.

In 1992, Turkey was one of the first six countries to initiate a programme against child labour.

Since then Turkey has taken many steps to combat this social tragedy. The Child Labour Department was formed within the Labour Ministry to coordinate efforts, to make inspections and formulate legislative proposals. The Inspection mechanism was revised and children working in the leather sector, who became ill due to the chemicals used, were given proper medical care.

Yiğit Dağaşan (18) remembers taking a vocational safety course at school, but noted that it was useless. Still it shows things are improving, while no one can deny that there is a lot to be desired.

• The Ministry of National Education (MONE) initiated a sensitivity course for teachers working at Apprenticeship Schools.
• The Turkish Employees Union has held seminars at Apprenticeship Centres to raise awareness.
• The Turkish Tradesmen and Artisans’ Confederation (TESK) founded a network of Labour Consultation and Inspection Groups and briefed its members on combating child labour.
• Various centers in universities in Ankara are trying to raise awareness among their students on child labour.
• Turkish Development Foundation held seminars for children working at homes and rural areas and gave them vocational training.
• Ankara Municipality, as part of the ILO programme, has held vocational training courses for children who work on the streets.
• The Prime Ministry Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP) and the Social Services and Child Protection Agency (SHÇEK) cooperated to help the psychological and social development of children working on the streets of Diyarbakır.

Many other projects all around the country are being implemented to eradicate child labour. Almost all accept the fact that without full development, it is very hard to eliminate the abuse of children this way and that the only thing to do is to implement temporary measures to ease the worst aspects of this problem.

There has been significant improvement, but everyone knows that this is only the beginning to combat this social illness.

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