Words have been said and pledges made to curb out child labour in southern Sudan. But it seems the vice is deep rooted contrary to what many expected.
Leer town of Unity state is a sprawling area amidst waters of the Sudd. It is a fast growing town and only boasts of one primary school. Secondary school education is yet to come. With the growing need of many activities including building of houses and working at the public bus station, one will find a great number of under age children doing most of the heavy works.
Loading the luggage on the bus is never a worry since a rib-showing lad will easily do it. Digging the mud used for building the new shops most of which belong to the Northern traders is done by these ‘cheap labourers.’ The payment is surprisingly a few sweets and the lucky few will share a bottle of a soft drink.
The situation is worse in Bentiu area, the seat of the State government. In Bentiu town, schools are available and it simply beats the logic of what the Ministry of Education and their counter in the Local government and Local Enforcement agencies are doing.
This is a wide spread concern in southern Sudan including Juba the capital. A former student of Leer primary school Mr. Majok Chuol who currently works for SSRRC in the county as the Radio operator said that it will require that the children be forced to go for studies at the initial stages of enrolment.
‘Otherwise the urge of wanting to learn will just die down if no one is there to show the young ones the paths to the classrooms,’ he said.