More by this Author
Summary
- Kenya registers 8.5 percent rate in 2019 from a high of 34.49 percent a decade ago. Child employment rate has shrunk by 26 percentage points in the 10-year period to 2019, data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) shows, pointing to gains in protection of children in Kenya.The number of children — aged between five and 17 years — working as at 2019 was 1.349 million out of a total population of 15.866 million children in that age bracket.This puts the child employment rate at 8.5 percent down from a whopping 34.49 percent reported a decade ago in the 2009 population census.According to the KNBS data, Kenyans in the workforce at the time of the census were 19.67 million with a large number (8.37 million) aged between 35 to 64 years, further shedding light on the disturbing state of youth unemployment at 39 percent.Of the 19.67 million Kenyans in the workforce, seven percent were children, 42.8 percent were the youth (aged between 18-34 years), 42.5 percent were between 34-65 years old and the senior citizens forming 7.7 percent of the workforce.Arid and semi-arid counties reported the highest child employment rates in the country with Samburu leading the pack at 38.4 percent, meaning four in every 10 minors in that age bracket form part of the labour force in that county.Wajir, Mandera, Turkana, Marsabit and Garissa counties all reported child employment rates of more than 30 percent, painting a picture of economic hardships in the area that turn children into breadwinners in a survival bid.On the flipside, Nairobi and Kiambu counties recorded the lowest child employment rates at 1.6 and 1.8 percent respectively.The trend continues with most metropolitan counties reporting less than six percent child employment rates. Mombasa was at two percent, Kisumu recorded 2.4 percent, Nakuru 3.5 percent while Uasin Gishu 2.2 percent.The notable shift in the number of children in employment is attributable to policy interventions such as the 100 percent transition from primary to secondary school education.In a 2018 research by the United States Department of Labour, the Kenyan government was lauded for its actions in clamping down on the practice.“The government greatly increased the number of labour inspectors and child labour violations identified,” said the report.“Children in Kenya engage in the worst forms of child labour in commercial sexual exploitation, sometimes as a result of human trafficking. Children also engage in child labour in agriculture,” added the report.Kenyan children are victims of human trafficking within and outside the country, and they are exploited to engage in domestic work, agriculture, fishing, begging, and street vending.
A child works on July 9, 2010 at an open-air copper mine in the village of Kamatanda in the rich mining province of Katanga, southeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). PHOTO | AFP Children are also lured into commercial sex in tourism-heavy areas such as Nairobi and Kisumu, and on the Coast in informal settings. In rural areas, poverty drives some families to engage in trafficking in children to work in homes. Children are also victims of commercial exploitation in drug production sites (khat), near gold mines, and along major highways; and, they are sexually exploited by fishermen on the shores of Lake Victoria. In addition, children in Kenya scavenge at dumpsites and streets for scrap material.However, the government is yet to commit sufficient resources to fight child employment. “The minimum age for work law does not protect children working outside the scope of a formal employment contract or in circumstances in which children derive no benefit from their labour” said the US report.For instance, the 100 percent transition policy has seen Ministry of Education officials take active role in the drive to actualise the goal of having every child in school.A study highlighting the hits and misses of school transition provides key insights on lessons the government ought to have learnt to improve the quality of education and life of students.The policy has brought mixed reactions as some of the headteachers continue to cry foul due to the influx of students, creating congestion in dormitories, classes, laboratories, libraries and dining halls.According to the census report, more than 10 million Kenyans were at primary school level at the time of the survey, this represents 21 percent of the country’s total population.In the initial expenditure plan, Sh494.8 billion was set aside for education from a budget of Sh2.8 trillion this year.Up to 17.78 million learners are in pre-primary to university, presenting a lot of work for the government.
No comments :
Post a Comment