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Child labour is work performed by children under 18 years of age which is
exploitative, hazardous or inappropriate for their age, and which is detrimental to
their schooling, or social, mental, spiritual and moral development.
This research aimed at finding out the challenges towards reduction of child labour in
Rufiji district. The study focused on the awareness of the parents about child labour,
causes of child labour in Rufiji district and the types of child labour the children
were engaged and reasons why they are engaged in it.
The data was collected through quantitative and qualitative research by the use of
questionnaires, interview questions on papers, and face to face interview and the use
of observation. Also books, web links and articles helped to support the findings.
Analysis method used to analyze the data was narrative analysis.
The main results of the research indicated that, the interviewees were not aware of
child labour which made it difficult to tackle the issue of child labour in Tanzania
also the main causes and types of child labour in Rufiji district were poverty, cultural
beliefs lack of education, inaccessibility of school skill acquisition, low payment
helping poor families work long hours and selling different merchandise, cooking,
washing cars, begging and carrying luggage respectively.
Different reasons were found to be contributing to child labour. These were
education problems where children drop out of school to engage in child labour, poor
health facilities that lead to death of parents and thus leave orphan to feed themselves
through child labour.
In conclusion, Child labour is a serious problem not only in Tanzania but also around
the world. In this study, children of both sexes were found engaging in different
activities such as; cooking, washing and watching cars, scavenging (collecting
scrap), carrying luggage, selling merchandise and other small items, fetching and
selling water, begging, cleaning, prostitution and salon services.
In recommendation the government should create awareness on the scourage of child
labour and establishment of child labour programme in Rufiji district. |
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