Child labor present in schools in China?

In my last blog, I was so fascinated at my research findings that the lack of education played a major role in deciding why Chinese children started to work at a young age that I decided to investigate the relations of schools and child labor. I came across an article titled “China: End Child Labor in State Schools” by the Human Rights Watch organization, that was about how some schools in China, both middle and junior high schools, were violating child labors laws because of the “work and study” program issued. As a result, the program was affecting thousands of children because it was interfering with the student’s education and placing some students in dangerous health conditions. The students worked long hours only to do work that would put their health in jeopardy. According to the Christian Science Monitor, in 1987 three million former Chinese students became apart of the other 37 million former Chinese students in dropping out of school in order to do work. This report shows how schools played a role in deciding whether a young person will become a worker at an early age or not. After reading these reports, I really started to understand one of my main concerns in my cross-cultural encounter with China, which is a child working at a very young age. To my knowledge on China’s child labor, here is how I interpret the situation of a child who participates in “work and study”. The primary reason why children start working early is because a lack of education and not being able to afford schooling. Most children, who are either middle class or lower class students, who wants an education, do not have a choice in the matter but to participate in “work and study” due to their financial situation. As I just described, “work and study” in some areas of China, can be harsh and the conditions can be compared to a time in Europe’s industrial revolution dating back to the 1800’s. What I am concluding from the article and from my latest research findings is that child labor in schools can be seen as a never ending cycle for some children because if one is poor and wants to get an education, the idea of “work and study” is attracting because he or she is receiving money, even though very little, for doing homework, but according to this article, “work and study” is the same as if one worked in a company or factory in the 1800s. If that person stays working at a factory for “X” amount of years and go on to have kids, then, most likely his or her child will go through the same thing. To elaborate on the subject matter, I am interested into looking at China’s government policy about child labor because I have no knowledge in this area. I feel as though, once I understand that half of the issue, I will have a better understanding with my cross-culture encounter with China.

Bureau of International Labor Affairs March 2008 Laws of China: Education laws. Electronic document, http://www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/sweat/china.htm accessed March 16, 2008

Human Rights Watch 2006 China: End Child Labor in State Schools. Electronic document, http://www.hrw.org/children/labor.htm accessed March 16, 2008