Outcomes

• The Government of NWFP (Labour Department) formulates and implements CL Policies & Programmes and coordinates all stakeholders;
• Right holders and duty bearers are aware of and proactively deal/tackle child labour issues;
• Mechanisms for provision of quality education to working children and their mainstreaming into formal system institutionalized/functional;
• Skills training needs of working children (12-18 yrs for decent work) are catered by the formal technical training system; and
• National concerted efforts for combating CL visible and being implemented.

Projects key results (against outputs)

The project has been successful in withdrawing and rehabilitating around 5,000 children (50 per cent girls) from labour situation including its worst forms. Under the vocational skills training component around 2500 children (above 14 years of age, and 50 per cent girls) and around 250 mothers have received skills to become useful members of their respective families. Moreover, awareness programmes for families, especially mothers, have also been carried out. The project is successful in bridging gender gaps arising from the infrastructural and cultural constraints compromising girls’ access to schooling. Presently, 50 per cent of the target group consists of females.

The project through various interventions has mainstreamed child labour concerns into the government’s formal teachers training programme to prevent school dropout within the primary level. The project has so far succeeded in training around 10,000 primary school government teachers on child labour.

Stakeholders’ knowledge has increased due to various knowledge products that project has developed. ILO’s tripartite constituents actively engage to promote efforts against child labour within the province.

The project has made great headway by developing innovative, replicable and culturally-sensitive models, in fostering a greater awareness of child labour and other occupational safety and social welfare issues at different levels. It has significantly improved the knowledgebase on child labour in the Khyber Pukhtunkhwa and enhanced the capacity of duty bearers at all levels. A database for monitoring and evaluation of project activities is in place to provide update on the progress of the project activities.

Adaptation of the Teacher Training Information Kit and SCREAM in collaboration with government partners and by entrusting them to conduct the training programmes exclusively has boosted their self confidence created a strong sense of ownership and commitment. The government partners have taken on the responsibilities and demonstrated their commitment with timely and quality delivery of the component. The master trainers trained by the project were also given the responsibility of training teachers in six other districts. This practice can be taken forward as a successful example to engage other government departments to play their role in combating child labour.

Extending pre-vocational and vocational training to working children and to mothers to provide income alternatives to child labour is a good practice. Officially, skills training programmes in Pakistan requires at least eight years of formal education, such that only older children (12-17) and adults are eligible. The project has successfully overcome that barrier by supporting the DMTE to develop and conduct tailor made skill training packages for neoliterate child labour covered under the project, which includes children below 12. This has enhanced the value of MPCs and provided an opportunity to divert younger children from child labour and to improve children’s income generating skills in non hazardous occupations. Including mothers in skills training has improved their mobility and contributed to their empowerment. It has also strengthened their resolve to ensure that their children attend the MPC skill training programmes regularly. Involving the primary grass roots stakeholders can be categorized as a further key good practice.

Modeling good practices in NFE, the strategy to start afternoon classes in government schools is a proactive measure to demonstrate to the Department of Schools and Literacy that non formal education can be successfully implemented in the government environment. Normally Government departments, agencies and NGOs have scoffed at the very idea that NFE can be successfully adopted by the government education departments. The SDCDANIDA projects have established that if the NFE system is demonstrated to be a bridge rather than a parallel system, it is easier to get it accepted by the government. The approach of this good practice can be applied to other components as well where the government becomes a part of the interventions rather than antagonized that its systems are being bypassed. SDC-CCLET and DANIDA- CCLET Support to the TBP.

Best Practices

Use of NFE curricula and materials in a number of child labour prevention/withdrawal projects, the implementing agencies use their own curricula and diverse training material to conduct NFE, literacy and skills training programmes. The implementing NGOs in the SDCDANIDA projects have used a common curriculum, training material and methodology, indicators and standards for all the children covered in the four project districts where direct service delivery is being provided. Using common curriculum, teaching materials and information systems by various implementing partners facilitates both quality control and potential for mainstreaming and scale up. It also becomes comparatively easy to assess the performance of each implementing partner. This good practice of the two projects with similar objectives and outputs has the potential to be adapted countrywide.

The project database is also an extremely valuable instrument in analysing the situation of the working children, monitoring the implementation of the project measures and in designing more precise strategies. All partners of the project have recognized the value of this database. This good practice of the project has the potential to be replicated countrywide.