Child labour in Pakistan. Both the Constitution and Labour laws prohibit the employment of children before the age of 14 years.
The Employment Of Children Act 1991 defines “child” as a person below 14 years of age and an “adolescent” as a person below 18 years of age (the definitions of child and adolescent in this act override these definitions in other labour laws). As mentioned above, the Constitution of Pakistan also regards the minimum age as 14 years. However, the 18th amendment has actually raised the minimum age up to 16 years without amending the labour laws, so contradiction continues. Article 25(A) of the Constitution says that the state now has to provide compulsory education to all children between the ages of five and sixteen years, which means that, a child can’t be allowed to work before 16 years of age.
The law also provides for certain exceptions. It says that no child has to be employed in any occupation, establishment or process defined as hazardous for children except where such process is carried by the family as a business or in any (training) school established, assisted and recognized by the government
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