6.2 The conflict between international child labour laws and the reality in South Africa 47
6.2.3 Education and Schooling in South Africa 57
In terms of the ILO’s Minimum Age Convention, the minimum age of employment set by States should not be less than the age of completion of compulsory education. Thus, in terms of the Minimum Age Convention, the employment of children below the age of 15 is unlawful. South Africa’s BCEA prohibits the employment of children under the age of 15. This approach is
complimented by the South African Schools Act, which provides for compulsory attendance at school and obliges parents to ensure that their children attend school atleast until the age of 15.
In terms of such approaches to child labour, compulsory education is viewed as a vital tool in the elimination of child labour. Such approaches are based on the notion that compulsory education reduces child labour as it is much easier to supervise school attendance than it is to monitor children in the workplace. Therefore, as long as children attend school, they will not be susceptible to seeking out employment, as children will be less available for full time work.
Further, by providing free basic education, parents will be encouraged to keep their children in school and employers will be persuaded against employing them.
One cannot argue with the fact that this approach is a noble ideal, in that the importance of education in the lives of all children can not be emphasized enough. However, it is argued that by linking the two concepts of minimum age and compulsory education, it is implied that the education infrastructure needed to provide education up to a specified age exists in all countries.
Sadly however, the experience of education in South Africa differs fundamentally from the experience in contemporary developed countries. Recent statistics relating to the high incidence of child labour in South Africa indicate that issues relating to child labour cannot be solved through compulsory educational laws and polices alone.
Within South Africa, poor educational facilities and infrastructure proves to be a major determent to children receiving the quality education that is needed in order to improve their lives. Many schools in South Africa lack adequate resources such as textbooks, blackboards, desks, chairs and sometimes even classrooms. Further, in many rural areas there have been reports of unqualified teaching staff, extremely poor sanitation and generally low learning standards. In this regard Bourdillon argues that “estimates of the human capital benefits of schooling rarely take account of the quality of schooling, or the capabilities of particular students, and often not even of the local economic situation”. He further maintains that when people argue the advantages of school over work, they often implicitly compare an ideal education, based on good resources, with the worst kinds of productive work. However, when poor educational facilities are compared with the more benign forms of work, the conclusion is
not so clear. In this regard it is argued that defining child labour as work that keeps children away from school creates the risk of overestimating the negative effects of work, and neglecting the relevance of poor quality education in South Africa.
As mentioned above, in practice many schools in South Africa, particularly those within rural areas, do not possess adequate human and material resources. In addition, classes are often overcrowded and teachers are ill-equipped or poorly motivated due to inadequate compensation and educational facilities. Such schools are usually ineffective and demeaning places for pupils where little valuable learning occurs. In such circumstances, it becomes evident that both childhood and education have negative connotations for children in South Africa far from those in a romantic idealisaton of childhood. In this regard, research indicates that a large number of children of school going age are in fact out of school, regardless of whether they work.
Furthermore, while the improvement of the availability of resources within South African schools will have a positive impact on children, research indicates that this will not necessarily guarantee better attendance or even better participation in school activities by children. This is due to the fact that, apart from issues relating to the quality of education and the availability of resources within South African schools, studies indicate that many children in South Africa cannot afford the cost that is associated with attending school. While basic education is free in South Africa, children must acquire books, stationery and clothing. Further, many children cannot afford transportation costs to and from school. In addition, physical access to school remains a problem for many children in South Africa, more especially those living in rural areas where public transport to school is lacking or inadequate, and where households are unable to afford private transport for children to get to school.
Thus, studies indicate that in practice a large majority of children in South Africa, at some stage combine school with work, both domestic work at home and productive work in order to pay the costs associated with education, regardless of whether such work is in violation of the law. It is in this sense, “the abuse of children in work”, rather than the fact of their participation in work, that the child labour problem should be understood. In this regard many scholars contend that the primary area of concern for governments and civil society should not be the fact that children
work but strategies should be developed on how to improve working conditions and maximize the benefits that children receive through work.