SPORT and Community Development Minister Shamfa Cudjoe-Lewis says more needs to be done to educate adults about what child labour is and how to prevent it.
Cudjoe-Lewis spoke at a public inquiry into child labour held by members of the Parliament's Human Rights, Equality and Diversity Committee at the Red House on April 5.
The commitee questioned representatives from the police, Children's Authority, Labour Ministry and the Gender and Children's Affairs Division of the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM).
After listening to comments by authority representatives about its outreach initiatives to educate children about their rights under the law and child labour, Cudjoe-Lewis asked whether this focus needed to be widened.
She suggested that the authority direct some of its attention towards parents and grandparents in their 50s and 60s, who may not have a full understanding of child labour.
According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), child labour is work that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children and interferes with their schooling.
This happens by depriving them of the opportunity to attend school, urging them to leave school prematurely or requiring them to try to combine school attendance with excessively long and heavy work.
Cudjoe-Lewis recalled that many parents do not see things such as having their children do chores as child labour, but as lessons for them in certain life skills.
"This requires a whole change in thinking and a whole shift in culture."
Cudjoe-Lewis did not believe it was necessary for parents who are business owners to take their children out of school to have them learn the family business.
"We have to show the negative effect of pulling children out of school."
In response to her questions about groups that have been the focus of child-labour education initiatives, Children's Authority legal services manager Renee Joseph said schools and other community groups often invite the authority to speak to their members on the issue.
Cudjoe-Lewis was not satisfied this was the right approach to raising public awareness about child labour.
"You can't just wait to be invited by a group. You have to be very deliberate about it. The Children's Authority must be deliberate and proactive."
She suggested the authority consider issues such as community caravans as an option to spread information about child labour to a wider audience.
Opposition Senator Jearlean John agreed with Cudjoe-Lewis about social norms in some communities which see nothing wrong with young children working.
She recalled her childhood days in Charlotteville, where she and her relatives would often sell fish and bananas.
From then to now, John said, "Culturally,we have not moved."
Tabaquite MP Anita Haynes-Alleyne linked Cudjoe-Lewis's point about educating people about child labour to school dropouts.
She said there is information in the public domain that in the period 2020-2022, the Education Ministry reported there were 151 dropouts in p
