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17th Sep., 2009: Kathmandu: The Nepal March on Education was welcomed today by thousands of students at Ratna Park in Kathmandu today. At the culmination ceremony of the March, the Govt. today responded to the call of child labourers, civil society members, UN Agencies and child rights activists and announced the formation of a Nepalese National Commission on Child Labour. This Commission would be the first of its kind in the world and would work towards elimination of child labour by ensuring effective enforcement of anti child labour laws and access to rehabilitation to released child labourers in the country.
At the ceremony, Parsuram, 13, recalled his days as a former child labourer and called upon the entire society to end child labour. Sharing his experiences during the Nepal March, he said, "we traveled across Nepal for hundreds of kilometers and found it very difficult to eat at a dhaba where food was not being served by a child labourer. We rescued several kids along the way and sometimes had to change 5 different places to eat. Can the entire society not see this child labour in front of us? I lost a leg while working as a domestic servant, and I call upon everyone to boycott such services provided by child labourers in dhabas and homes."
Internationally acclaimed child rights activist, and President of Global Campaign for Education and Global March Against Child Labour, Kailash Satyarthi applauded the efforts of Parsuram and all the Nepalese core marchers. He compared the story of Parsuram as a symbol of change for the entire Nepal as a country. He said, "The will of Parsuram shows Nepal is ready for change and when in a country from a former child labourers to the Prime Minister everyone is geared to end exploitation and abuse. It is heartening to see history being made. I promise to take the spirit of the Nepalese children to all International fora to ensure that Nepal gets all requires assistance to International community in this great endevour." He comparied these children to heroes like Nelson Mandela and Gandhi and proclaimed that the future generations, when they read history, and access to fundamental rights, these children would shine in the annals of history.
All the marchers shared their experience with the ministers and demanded that it is necessary to create a statutory body to deal with child labour cased specifically and this is also the core demand of the march.
The labour minister Hobo'le Mohd. Aftab Alam immediately responded while reaffirming the commitment of the Nepalese Govt. He said, " the time has come for us to act immediately to eliminate child labour and in this regard a NATIONAL CHILD LABOUR COMMISSION OF NEPAL would be constituted."
The State Minister for Education Mr. Govind Chaudhary said," the need of the hour is to have not only compulsory but also inclusive and participatory education with all public and pvt. institutions coming together for quality and compulsory education."
Mr. Dilli Bahadur Chaudhary, President, BASE-NEPAL and National Coordinator of the Nepal March for Education said, "there are more than 20 lacs children forced to work in this country. Most of this children belongs to marginalized sections of society. This has to change. To do this we are going to launch a National Campaign called- EDUCATE TO END EXCLUSION. Fundamental right to education in Nepal must be included in the constitution of Nepal as not only compulsory but also enforceable. Policy for rescue and rehabilitation for all child labourers must be made. In this regards the child leaders in the Nepal March for Education would go and meet with the Honorable President of Nepal on 18th September 2009.
The President of Bachpan Bachao Andolan Mr. Ramesh Gupta congratulated all the Marchers and the participants in the Nepal March for organizing and leading this historic campaign and endeavor.
Mr. U. Sarathchandran, Member Sec., National Legal Services Authority of India said, "India has already enacted the Right to Education Act and shown the way. These efforts must be replicated and Education should become a fundamental right as soon as possible. The judiciary of India has also implemented the Legal Aid services and to ensure child rights, such legal aid should also be provided." It is notable that in India, the Supreme Court has already directed the creation of an All India Legal Aid Cell on Child Rights.
The Nepal March for Education has proved to be a tremendous success over more than 3000 Km. and with the participation of hundreds of civil society organizations, UN agencies, Govt. Dept. etc. |
