Teachers have been urged to use the school holidays to identify students who are involved in child la­bour.

Fiji Trades Union Congress (FTUC) executive officer, Jo­tika Sharma speaking at a Capability Building Workshop for teachers in Labasa, emphasised the vital role of teach­ers in helping dropouts return to school.

The workshop was conducted at the Galaxy Hotel and Apartments in Labasa with 25 participants.

Ms Sharma noted that the dynamics of child labour have changed during the COVID-19 pandemic, with many stu­dents leaving school to support their families financially.

Teachers have reported that some students do not attend school or drop out because they feltthe need to work and provide financial support for their families.

The FTUC is collaborating with the Fiji Teachers Union (FTU) to recruit targeted teachers to assist in identifying and addressing this issue among students.

“Although we don’t have statistics now from the Ministry of Education, we are aware that all over the country, there are children who have left school for various reasons,” she said.

“Our intervention is to help teachers to do more so that these children go back to school.

“Also guide them on how to counsel parents and students, making them understand the importance of education.”

At the workshop, teachers also highlighted the challeng­es of working with children with disabilities in regular schools.

“We have been informed through discussions that there are some children with special disabilities in the main­stream school system and later drop out to work outside to earn a living,” she said.

“We have decided to follow up with the Ministry of Edu­cation to get data on such cases and schools that have such cases so that we can work with the teachers to reduce child labour.”

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Story By: shratikan@fijisun.com.fj