READING AND WRITING

Child labour refers to the employment of children in any work that deprives children of their
childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and that is mentally, physically,
socially or morally harmful. This practice is considered exploitative by many international
organisations. Legislations across the world prohibit child labour. These laws do not consider all work
by children as child labour; exceptions include work by child artists, supervised training, certain
categories of work.
Child labour was employed to varying extents through most of history. Before 1940, numerous
children aged 5–14 worked in Europe, the United States and various colonies of European powers.
These children worked in agriculture, home-based assembly operations, factories and mining. Some
worked night shifts lasting 12 hours. With the rise of household income, availability of schools and
passage of child labour laws, the incidence rates of child labour fell.
In developing countries, with high poverty and poor schooling opportunities, child labour is still
prevalent. In 2010, sub-saharan Africa had the highest incidence rates of child labour, with several
African nations witnessing over 50 percent of children aged 5–14 working. Worldwide agriculture is
the largest employer of child labour. Vast majority of child labour is found in rural settings and
informal urban economy; children are predominantly employed by their parents, rather than
factories. Poverty and lack of schools are considered as the primary cause of child labour.
Wikipedia
Task 1: Select the sentence that best summarizes the content of the text.
A. Child labour in Africa
B. Child labour between the past and the present
C. Children at work

Task 2: Answer the following questions according to the text.

A. What is child labour?
B. Are all works performed by children illegal? Justify.
C. What were the different fields that children worked at in the past?
D. In your opinion, why does Africa still have the highest percentage of child labour?

Task 3: Find in the text words or phrases closest in meaning to:

Intervenes §1 - monitored §1 - sharply decreases §2 - chances §3 - places §3
Task 4: (page 68)

Writing development:
Child labour is an unethical practice. As a journalist of an ethical business newspaper, write a composition of about
100 words in which you state the causes and effects of child labour.
Use the notes below:
Causes: poverty - absence of laws that protect children - unaware parents -
Effects: School dropping - diseases - delinquency- exploitation and underpayment