Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Zambia (Ratification: 1976)

The Committee notes the Government’s report.

Article 2, paragraph 3. Age of completion of compulsory schooling. The Committee had previously observed that basic education is not compulsory in Zambia, but once a child is enrolled, attendance at school is compulsory. It had noted the International Trade Union Confederation’s (ITUC) allegation that 25 per cent of primary-school age children do not receive any schooling and that in 1999 less than 29 per cent of children reached the secondary school level. It had requested the Government to provide information on the situation of children who were not enrolled in school and therefore were not obliged to attend school, and to indicate what measures were taken or envisaged to ensure that these children were not admitted to employment or work in any occupation below 15 years of age.

The Committee notes the Government’s information that it is making tremendous efforts to ensure that the minimum age for admission to employment is not less than the minimum age of completion of compulsory schooling. It notes the Government’s statement that primary education has been declared free and there is current political commitment to gradually expand free education to grade 12. In addition, a number of bursary schemes for orphaned and vulnerable children are in place, and the Ministry of Education has instituted a return to school policy for pregnant teenage girls. Moreover, the Government is providing skills training to children being withdrawn from the streets as well as from child labour. The Committee also notes that, according to the information available at the Office, in 2005 the Government of Zambia continued to implement its universal primary education programme called the “Basic Education Sub-Sector Investment Programme” (BESSIP), which specifically targets working children. The Committee welcomes the measures adopted by the Government. It encourages the Government to continue taking measures to increase school attendance – including through the introduction of compulsory schooling – and to reduce school drop-outs, so as to prevent the engagement of these children in child labour. It requests the Government to continue providing information on measures taken to this end and results achieved. The Committee also requests the Government to provide statistical information on attendance and drop-out rates at school.

Part V of the report form. Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee had previously noted the ITUC’s allegation that child labour in Zambia is almost non-existent in the formal economy. However, children are reported to work in the unregulated economy, often in dangerous or harmful work. According to the ITUC, children are mostly found in agriculture, domestic service, small-scale mining operations, stone crushing and pottery.

The Committee notes the Government’s information that the first child labour survey was carried out by the Zambian Government in 1999. It indicated that over half a million children were working. Agriculture accounted for over 80 per cent of these children, but children were also found working in fisheries, domestic labour, the urban informal sector (transport and small workshops), mining and quarrying. With regard to agriculture, children were primarily found working on smallholder farms as family labourers, but also in large-scale farming operations. It also notes the Government’s information that it is currently finishing its first National Labour Force Survey, which will include child labour and serve to update the 1999 survey. The Committee also notes the Government’s information that extracts from the inspection section within the Ministry of Labour and Social Security have not yet been comprehensively documented since the child labour component was only recently introduced in the integrated inspection form. However, with the support of ILO/IPEC, cases of working children have been detected and a number of these children have been withdrawn from labour. In particular, under the Capacity Building Project (CBP), 3,643 children were found working, of which 2,017 were withdrawn and 1,626 prevented. During the Baseline Survey of Child Labour Prevalence in Commercial Agriculture (COMAGRIC project), 1,542 children were found working, of which 699 were withdrawn and 1,411 prevented. The Committee takes due note of this information. It nevertheless observes that a large number of children under the age of 15 continue to work in the informal economy. The Committee strongly encourages the Government to renew its efforts to progressively improve this situation. It also requests the Government to supply a copy of the National Labour Force Survey, as well as extracts from the reports of inspection services, when available, information on the number and nature of contraventions reported and penalties applied.

The Committee is also addressing a direct request to the Government concerning certain other points.