Child labourers rebuild Myanmar
- 12 years ago
For several hours every day, 13 year old Chit Ko walks barefoot with a basket full of rocks on his shoulder.
He earns $3.50 a day transporting stones back and forth for a construction company who will use them to build roads and highways.
It's back breaking work, but Chit, who quit school so he could work to support his family, has other plans.
"I want to be a doctor when I'm older," he says. "I want to take care of my parents."
Chit is one of many child labourers being exploited in Myanmar... a country whose recent foray onto the international stage has it scurrying to play catch up when it comes to infrastructure and economic growth.
The International Labour Organisation says the lure of cheap labour is a slippery slope when the government has so many priorities that need to be addressed.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION LIAISON OFFICER STEVE MARSHALL SAYING:
"They have to address economic policy, child education, health, development, agriculture, all of these policies together, because each of them work in different areas to achieve that end objective, and it's a massive problem."
According to rights groups, only about 60 percent of Myanmar's children are enrolled in school.... and of those, about a third drop out after fifth grade.
He earns $3.50 a day transporting stones back and forth for a construction company who will use them to build roads and highways.
It's back breaking work, but Chit, who quit school so he could work to support his family, has other plans.
"I want to be a doctor when I'm older," he says. "I want to take care of my parents."
Chit is one of many child labourers being exploited in Myanmar... a country whose recent foray onto the international stage has it scurrying to play catch up when it comes to infrastructure and economic growth.
The International Labour Organisation says the lure of cheap labour is a slippery slope when the government has so many priorities that need to be addressed.
(SOUNDBITE) (English) INTERNATIONAL LABOUR ORGANIZATION LIAISON OFFICER STEVE MARSHALL SAYING:
"They have to address economic policy, child education, health, development, agriculture, all of these policies together, because each of them work in different areas to achieve that end objective, and it's a massive problem."
According to rights groups, only about 60 percent of Myanmar's children are enrolled in school.... and of those, about a third drop out after fifth grade.