Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Egypt (Ratification: 2002)

Article 7(2) of the Convention. Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Access to free basic education. The Committee previously took due note of the Government’s information regarding the measures taken to reduce the school drop-out phenomenon. It noted, however, that according to the UNICEF report “Children in Egypt 2016: A Statistical Digest”, while the net enrolment rates at the primary level for the 2014/15 and 2015/16 school years were 91.1 and 92.4 per cent respectively, they remained lower at the lower secondary level (12–15 year-olds) at 83.8 and 83.4 per cent respectively.

The Committee notes the Government’s detailed information pertaining to the measures taken to continue improving the functioning of the education system. These include:

• – Measures to increase enrolment rates: opening community schools throughout the country in all remote areas for six to 14 year olds; providing free education and health insurance for all pupils; providing meals to encourage pupils to keep attending school regularly; selecting 300 new schools to implement competency-based programmes in accordance with the plan for the academic year 2020-21; implementing advanced educational programmes in technical education at 105 schools during the 2019–2020 academic year.
• – Measures to decrease drop-out rates at the primary education level: continuous coordination with the relevant authorities to reduce the drop-out rates at all stages of primary education; expanding community, child- and girl-friendly and single-classroom schools in areas that are most in need; switching to e-learning to reduce dropping out of school; coordinating with UNICEF to foster an environment at schools that is favourable to the integration of students with special educational needs and refugees.
• – Measures taken to decrease drop-out rates at the secondary level: Providing opportunities for (vocational) skills training at training facilities to keep pace with the working environment and contribute to students’ self-realization by earning income that helps them to develop their abilities and subsequently proceed into the labour market; implementing the Industrial Apprenticeship Programme for trainees at private sector workshops and which endeavours to eliminate the worst forms of child labour; providing financial assistance to students in difficult economic circumstances to encourage them to continue studying and not to drop out of school in order to go into employment.

The Committee further notes, from the Government’s report under the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), that in the framework of the National Action Plan to Combat the Worst Forms of Child Labour 2018-2025 (NAP-WFCL), a project on “Strengthening the availability of educational opportunities and combating child labour” is being implemented, which sets out to tackle some of the most pressing issues affecting the poorest children in Egypt, such as nutrition, access to decent basic education and ending child labour. Furthermore, the Committee notes that the Government is continuing its partnership with UNICEF with a view to improving access to education for disadvantaged children, including through its 2018-2022 Programme of Cooperation (“Partnerships for Children”) and through a two-year collaboration beginning in 2021 to educate children from refugee and migrant communities in Egypt and improve their access to COVID-19 vaccinations. Considering that education is key in preventing children from being engaged in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee encourages the Government to continue its efforts to improve the functioning of the education system through measures aimed at increasing school enrolment rates and decreasing drop-out rates at the primary and lower secondary levels. It requests the Government to continue providing information on the measures taken or envisaged in this regard as well as on the results achieved, disaggregated by age and gender, in particular with regard to disadvantaged children and children from refugee and migrant communities.

Clause (e). Special situation of girls. The Committee previously encouraged the Government to continue its efforts to maintain gender parity in education and requested it to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and the results achieved.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that several measures have been taken to facilitate girls’ access to all forms of education. These measures include: (i) awareness-raising campaigns on the importance of girls’ education; (ii) the establishment of 1,191 girl-friendly schools under the Girls’ Education Initiative Programme, distributed across rural subdivisions and villages, with the aim of reducing the educational gap by 2020; (iii) the holding of seminars for the families of pupils at such girl-friendly schools to raise awareness on how to protect their daughters from all forms of violence and abuse; and (iv) the establishment of a follow-up and continuous evaluation mechanism to maintain the promotion of girls’ access to education and equal opportunities.

Moreover, the Government indicates that the “Hayah Karima” (Decent Life) initiative has been launched, which is implemented in multiple ways by the Ministry of Manpower, including through vocational training and guidance, provision of decent job opportunities, ongoing inspection of women’s employment and examination of the problems that hinder women’s economic participation. In particular, vocational training programmes benefited 90 girls aged 14 to 18 between 2019 and 2021, and mobile training units which dispense training in various occupations benefited 6,565 trainees, among which 1,060 were girls and women. A number of projects (31,598 projects in 33 governorates) have also been implemented by the Ministry of Solidarity between 2019 and 2020 for girls and women in rural areas to promote their empowerment. Projects for rural women’s development and for training women in basic life skills and food production were provided to 31,598 participants. The Committee encourages the Government to continue its efforts to maintain gender parity with regard to education and vocational training, so as to ensure equal protection for girls from the worst forms of child labour. It requests the Government to continue providing information on the measures taken in this regard and on the results achieved, particularly with regard to girls from rural areas.