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 The issue is very sensitive. The Labor code in Vietnam is precise: not before the age of 15*. However everyone quickly observes that many children work much earlier than this.
To be sure: education is compulsory and in the relatively remote and poor areas where we work (the average income is there less than half the national figure), more than 99% children complete their primary eduication.
70%
go beyond and 30-50% finish college. But there are not enough class rooms, and not enough teachers: the pupils are thus at school only 4 hours a day (except special schools, for the best students): some in the morning, the others in the afternoon. The rest of the time, they review their lessons, for secondary school students this means several hours per day (see the video), and of course they help their parents. Be it at the farm, or as workers elsewhere. They are often paid per task, and less than adults.
We have been criticized several times by visitors:
One funder: (You should) « (...) not allow child labor. There were 2 children between 8 and 12 at the cashew nut workshop».
Comment on one of our videos : « (…) I think there is too much emphasis on children working, considering Western prejudices. This sequence should be shortened, (…) explain the children just help their parents after school… »
Our
position?
 We have published a story on this issue as early as June 2001. It is vain and not judicious to forbid the children to work, any time by principle. If 2/3 children never finish college it is usually because their parents cannot afford the cost! Forbiding them any work could well back fire and compell them to leave school even earlier.
We do look however at their working conditions: it should not harm their development, their good health, and certainly not prevent them to continue their school. Sometimes the parents want to take of from school so they would earn money and contribute to the family budget: we try to persuade, in some cases we must stop all support, for instance we stop providing microcredit. This happens sometimes when the father is alcoholic, he wants to reduce family expenses and get quick new income.
We provide scholarships to almost 2700 children, not enough of course. Over 4100 extremely poor households have joined our program to get out of poverty for good, and we give priority to households with children at school.
It is often quite complicated. The parents themselves have often not gone very far with their studies, and fail to encourage their children to make the effort. Often the children ask to stop school and they want to work, the parents do not know what  to say. The authorities try very hard to motivate the children to go as far as they can, they try harder than we can imagine! For instance the parents are summoned to the school, the teachers pay home visits, or even the People's Committee may stop specific assistance allocated to the poorest if the children drop out of school.
One comment from France: «I think we have gone too far ourselves, our children are spoiled with so many toys, their only duty is to succeed at college (…) » Idem in Vietnam! Many parents lament the children do not study enough, they spend a lot on video games which can be found even on small rural markets; the boys race on cheap motorcycles, not to mention drugs especially -but not only, in and around the urban centres.
*Labour Code Article 6: “An employee
shall be a person of at least 15
years of age…” The law on the Protection, Care and
Education of Children, Article 7, prohibits: “Abusive child labour;
the use of children for heavy and dangerous jobs, jobs that expose children to
harmful chemical substances or other jobs which contravene the provisions of
existing labour laws.” |
