INFLUENCE OF CHILD LABOUR AND NEGLECT ON THE EDUCATION OF PRIMARY SCHOOL CHILDREN IN ENUGU EDUCATION ZONE, ENUGU STATE
ABSRACT
This study is aimed at determining influence of child labour and neglect on education of Primary School Children in Enugu Education Zone, Enugu State.  Survey Research was adopted for the study. Three research questions guided the study. The population of the study was 2389 primary school pupils from the study area and the sample consisted of 200 respondents selected through random sampling techniques. Questionnaires were used as the instruments for data collection. The instrument was face validated by three experts from the field of educational foundation. Data collected was analyzed using mean scores and grand mean to answer research questions. Modified four point scales of Strongly Agreed, Agreed, Disagreed and Strongly disagreed was used to answer the research questions. The findings among other things are that child labour affects badly the education of children in Enugu Educational Zone. Based on the findings, recommendation were made, one of which is that there should be religious and moral re-orientation to check child labour.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study -    -    -    -    -    -  
Statement of the Problem   -    -    -    -    -    -    -
Purpose of the Study-    -    -    -    -    - 
Significance of the Study -    -    -    -    -
Scope of the study          ……………………………
Research Questions     -    -    -    -    -   
CHAPTER TWO: REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE
Conceptual framework -    -    -    -    -
Theoretical framework     -    -    -    -    - - - -
Empirical Studies -     -    -    -    -    -    -   
Summary of Literature Review-    -    -    - 
CHAPTER THREE:  RESEARCH METHOD
Research Design      -    -    -    -   
Area of the Study -    -    -    -    -    -    -
Population of the Study -    -    -    -    -    -  
Sample and Sampling Techniques -    -    -    -
Instrument for Data Collection    -    -    -    -  
Validation of the instrument -    -    -    -
Reliability of the Instrument-    -    -    -    -    -
Method of Data collection-    -    -    -    -
Method of data analysis -    -    -   
Decision rule -    -    -    -    -    -    -    -
CHAPTER FOUR: DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS
Research question 1 -    -    -    - 
Research question 2-    -    -    -    - 
Research question 3     -    -    -    -    -  
Research question 4             ………
Summary of Findings    -    -    - 
CHAPTER FIVE:    DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS, IMPLICATION OF THE     STUDY, RECOMMENDATIONS AND      SUMMARY
Discussion of findings -    -    -    -    -    -
Summary                -    -    -    -    - 
Conclusion -    -    -    --    -    -    -  
Recommendations -    -    -    -    -    -  
Suggestions for Further Studies    -    -    -  
References-    -    -     -    -    -   
Appendix     A       ………………………………
Appendix    B        ………………………………
Appendix   C        ………………………………………
Appendix D          ……………………………………………
Appendix E           …………………………………………….          
Appendix F          …………………………………………….        

List of Tables
Table1: Responses on the extent child labour and neglect are practiced among primary school children in Enugu Education Zone.
Table2: Responses on the factors that lead to perception of parents, and others  
             towards child labour and Neglect in Enugu Education Zone.
Table 3: Responses on how child labour can be minimized to meet up with the  
             standard of Education in Enugu Educational Zone.

CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
Child Labour and Neglect is a world-wide social and economic problem resulting widely from economic recession (PDF) (UNICEF 2012). It is a global social problem which occurs where parents, guidance and other adults in the society willfully cause injury on or endanger the physical, emotional or social welfare of a child through various acts of omission or commission (The state of the world’s children) (PDF) (UNICEF 2012).
Post early childhood environment and health status of children are strong determinants of a child’s intellectual development, educational success and future health. The education acquired by a child’s parents, particularly a child’s mother, has a strong impact on the development of a child’s potentials (Ugbor 2010). That is why bible advised children in proverbs 6:20 my son, keep your fathers commandment, and forsake not your mother’s teaching. Material educational attainment impacts the successful development of future generations and assures that each generation is afforded a good start in life in order to reach its fullest potentials (International Labour Organization – ILO 2011).
The nature and scope of child labour and neglect vary widely. In western societies such as the United States of America and Britain, child labour and neglect extends to several forms of misuse of children especially with regard to certain responsibilities (Department of Labour U S A 2012). For instance, in those societies, child labour is persistently regarded as a serious form of child abuse. It is supposed under a certain age that children should not need to be engaged in economic activities (International Labour Organization – ILO 2011). In Africa, these are seen as a socialization process and do not attract any attention as an abominable practice.
From the above introduction, it is imperative that any form of child labour must take cognizance of the nature, the form, and scope of several value orientations (Anderson, 2010). Any practice that will prove detrimental to the growth and physical, emotional and cognitive development of the child no matter the region of the people will bring set back in the academic performance of that child.
Such Practices are: Violating a nation’s minimum wage laws like Nigeria according to International Labour Organization from 5 to 17 years, Threatening childrens’ physical, mental, or emotional well-being, Involving in intolerable abuse such as child slavery, child trafficking, debt bondage, forced labour, and generally using children or involving children in other illegal activities, Prevents children from going to school and Use children to undermine labour standards.
In these regards, Advanced Learners Dictionary (2010) defined a child as a young human being who is not yet an adult. On the other hand, child labour is the act of subjecting a child to work that is dangerous for kids and that are hazardous to their physical, mental or emotional health.
Also, from the Academic American Encyclopedia 4 (2011) child labour is the employment of children under the age of physical maturity in the jobs requiring long hours. In engaging in such works, such children may sustain injuries which may include fractures and or complicated body damage which may finally result in physical impairment (Dorschner 2013).
On the other hands, from International Labour Organization (2013), child labour is dangerous and unhealthy work done by children aged 4 to 17 years.
 In order to support their families and provide themselves with basic household needs which intends to be a common thing in developing countries, children engage themselves in agricultural activities and on family farms (Anderson, 2010). They are seldom employed by State-owned Commercial Agricultural Plantations, which are responsible for much of the agricultural production for export (Anderson, 2010).
In cottage industries and mechanic work-shops, children work as apprentices in serious crafts or trade such as weaving, tailoring, catering and auto repair (Ugbor 2013). In urban areas and towns children work on the streets as vendors, car washers, beggars, bus conductors (Ugbor 2013). These economic activities affect the performance of the children since they engage in them at the expense of their studies, this often result in these children leaving school prematurely and entering into paid work (Ugbor 2013).  These works are usually under paid (Dorschner 2013).                      
These works done by children under the age of seventeen are too much compared with their extent of development; the work is always harmful to their health (Dorschner 2013).
Many children work in dangerous or unhealthy conditions such as rug factories, mines or factories which use dangerous chemicals, fire work or matches. They become exhausted more quickly than adults, this reduces their physical conditions and makes the children more vulnerable to diseases (ILO 2011). Children in hazardous working conditions are even in worse condition. Children who work, instead of going to school, will remain illiterate to their own wellbeing as well as to community they live in (Human Rights Watch, 2011).
Child labourers often work 12 to 15 hours a day and earn as little as a few pennies a day (Eguavoen and Ugiagbe, 2010 and Licadho, 2012). When the child engages in factory work, dangerous place or any other place like household, streets e.t.c, the child will not have opportunity to read, take proper nutrition and has his future secured.
According to the International Labour Organization (ILO 2011), there are tremendous economic benefits for developing nations by sending children to school instead of work. Without education, children do not gain the necessary skills such as English literacy and technical aptitude that will increase their productivity to enable them to secure higher skilled job in future with higher wages that will lift them out of poverty (Human Rights Watch, 2011).
According to UNICEF (2012), there is an estimated 250 million children aged 4 to 17 in child labour. Child labourers are found in factory work, mining, prostitution, quarrying, agriculture, helping in the parents’ businesses, having one’s own small business, or doing odd jobs that affect their educational performances. Some children work as guides, they work in restaurant as waiters. Other children are forced to do tedious and repetitive job such as assembling boxes, polishing shoes, stocking a stores’ products or cleaning (Mathias 2011). However, most of or all these works made bad effects on his health or his future into academics going backwards.
According to Tassoni (2010), neglect means failure to provide for the basic essential needs of a child. It also includes a lack of adequate stimulation or supervision of the child, failure to protect a child from danger. Put differently, neglect is the failure to provide necessary care, assistance, guidance or attention that causes the personal physical, mental or emotional harm or substantial damage to or loss of assets (ILO 2013).
Some people have a legal or social responsibility to care for and support a child who is unable to meet those needs him or her. “Neglect” occurs when the other person fails to live up to that responsibility. Neglect has two forms (Bunnak (2012).
•    Active Neglect: which are the withholding basic necessities of life (including care).
•    Passive Neglect: This means not providing basic necessities of life because of lack of experience, information, or ability.
Neglect includes denying the person any of the things that are essential to life, such as food, water, medications, medical treatment, therapy, nursing services, therapeutic and equipment aids, clothing, right  especially right to go to school when the child supposed (Human Right Watch 2011). Justice Canada (2014) includes these as some examples of neglect.
Failing to provide such things as:
•    Adequate nutrition, clothing and other necessities.
•    Adequate personal care, example failure to pay a child’s school fees.
•    Safe and comfortable conditions
•    A clean environment
•    Prerequisites for personal cleanliness
•    Sufficient space for personal privacy
•    Abandonment.



Neglect is probably the most common type of abuse, but has the fewest conviction in law. Even if there is no law abiding that, we should remember the bible saying in the book of Galatians 6:7 “I quote” whatever a person is sowing, this he will also reap.
Emotionally, a child can be in a state of difficult or awkward situation when he experiences what we call physical maltreatment which is denial of basic necessities of life by parents such as shelter, health care, low moral support, education and protection which can result to failure to grow, maltreatment at school, poor school attendance and truancy, poor speech e.t.c which affect the child’s academic performance in the school thereby making the child to engage in child labour hence the child is denied of the necessary support by his parents (Arhedo, 2011). Based on the foregoing, the researcher wants to find out what effects all these have on children in Enugu State and hence the need for this study.
Statement of Problem
Child labour is an issue that affects about 250 million children in the world. Although it occurs all round the world, child labour is most common in Asia and Africa which are the third world and developing countries which Nigeria is one of them.
Work may be harmful if children are doing dangerous tasks or if they work too many hours for example, some children who involve in child labour are forced to work in crowded places for up to 18 hours a day. Some of the most common jobs that child labourers hold are in the farm, in mines and factories.
The issues of child labour are a very complicated one that stem from a number of large problems. Five of the obvious issues that are closely tied to child labour are poverty, adult unemployment and urbanization, industrial revolution.
According to Tassoni (2010), it is believed that poverty, ignorance, diseases contribute to parental neglect of their children. This parental abandonment of children leads to child’s neglect, deprivation and abuse, as children are often left to feed themselves and eventually creep into academic performance in the school and also face frequent illness, mental imbalance and retarded growth.
In all these stated, without doubt Enugu Educational Zone  is not an exception because it has given rise to a crying need for greater attention to child labour which is now one of the major social problems besetting Enugu zone. Though this problem is not entirely new, it has assumed an alarming dimension.
Therefore, this project among other things aims at finding out the causes, discuss the solutions to child labour and neglect in the researcher’s study area.
Purpose of the Study
The purpose of this study is to determine the influence of child labour, and neglect on education of primary school children in Enugu Educational Zone of Enugu State. Specifically the study sought to:
1.     find the extent to which child labour and neglect are practiced in the study area.
2.     identify factors that lead to perception of parents, and others towards child labour and Neglect in Enugu Education Zone.
3.    determine how child labour can be minimized to meet up with the standard of education in Enugu Educational Zone.
Significance of the Study
         It is hoped that the findings of this study will be of immense benefits to the following: children, parents, school management and government.
        Children aged 4 to 17 years who are involved in child labour and neglect will benefit because it will supply information with respect to the extent to which child labour and neglect are practiced in our area of study.
         Parents will also know that it is their duty to care and provide for these children who will prevent child labour. The children will benefit by knowing that they have right to education thus help the society to have literate children that will help the society to grow.
       The future researchers will benefit as the research work increases their data bank.
     The general public will benefit as the study will help in job creation and therefore reduce crime rate in the society.
The scope of the Study
The researcher has limited herself to Enugu Educational Zone using four selected schools. The reason for choosing the area is because the area is inhabited by people of all works of life with low population of middle class men and many low income earners which make up mainly teachers, traders, mechanics, vocational artisans and shop-keepers  of which more than sixty percent (60%) of the population are school children. And because of the state of the income of their family, they engage in different works like they work as barrow pushers, hawkers, caring of old people at home, factory workers, farmers, domestic servants, servants in hotels e.t.c. which all these are practiced in my study area which the researcher want to find out the causes and solution of child labour in that study area.
Research Questions
The following researcher questions guided the study:
1.    To what extent is child labour and neglect practiced in Enugu Education Zone?
2.    What are the factors that lead to perception of parents, and others towards child labour and neglect in Enugu Education Zone?
3.    How can child labour and neglect be minimized in Enugu Educational Zone?