Solicitud directa (CEACR) - Adopción: 2024, Publicación: 113ª reunión CIT (2025)

Convenio sobre las peores formas de trabajo infantil, 1999 (núm. 182) - Ecuador (Ratificación : 2000)

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Access to free basic education. The Committee notes the actions taken by the Government to address the effects of academic delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic: (i) since 2022, the Everyone Back to the Classroom (Todos al Aula) Strategy has been implemented by means of 377 teams in various areas of the country, which has carried out door-to-door visits to identify children who have dropped out of school and has led corresponding events, such as fairs; (ii) up to 2023, 23,317 children and adolescents were identified nationally, 13,684 of whom were reintegrated into the national education system; and (iii) in order to help young persons to return to and stay in school, and to help curb the academic delay, the Learning Standardization and Acceleration Service has been established for children who are behind in school to help them catch up through an accelerated method in which the pupil moves up two classes in one academic year. Hence, in 2022–2023, 5,598 pupils were involved, leading to a reduction of 6.54 per cent of pupils who were behind in school.

The Committee notes that according to UNESCO’s Information System for Education Trends in Latin America (SITEAL) country profile for Ecuador: (i) in 2021, primary school adjusted net enrolment was 93.9 per cent for girls and 95.4 per cent for boys; and (ii) in 2021, lower secondary school adjusted net enrolment was 89.3 per cent for girls and 84.5 per cent for boys. Recalling once again the fact that education plays a key role in preventing the involvement of children in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee requests the Government to pursue its efforts and continue to provide information on the measures adopted to ensure that all children have access to free basic education, including within the framework of the Everyone Back to the Classroom (Todos al Aula) Strategy and the Learning Standardization and Acceleration Service. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the results achieved, particularly statistics on the development of school enrolment and drop-out rates.

Clause (d). Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk. Child domestic workers. The Committee notes that the Government has not provided information previously requested in this respect. It therefore urges the Government to provide: (i) detailed results obtained from the implementation of the Intersectoral Strategy for the Prevention of Child Labour and Gender Mainstreaming in Addressing Child Labour, with the focus on developments in the situation of children engaged in clandestine domestic work; and (ii) statistics of the National Statistics and Census Institute (INEC) on paid or unpaid domestic work.