Child Labour and School Absence in Sagamu Local Government Area of Ogun State

Abstract

This study reviewed school absences of 1675 school children over one academic year. One thousand and eighty (64.5%) of these school children were involved in child labour outside school hours. The scope of occupational activity was heterogeneous with hawking as the most prevalent form. The school absences of 1080 children involved in child labour were compared with those of 595 children who were not involved. The children involved in child labour had a mean number of days of school absence of 11.34 days while those who were not involved in child labour were absent for a mean number of 11.50 days. The difference was not statistically significant (p = 0.80). there was also no significant difference in the mean school absence duration among boys and girls in the two groups (p = 0.93 and 0.81 respectively).


It is concluded that child labour does not increase significantly school absence rates in school children when such economic roles are performed outside school hours.


Key Words: Child labour, child abuse, school children, school absence.


Nigerian Medical Practitioner Vol. 46 No 1, 2004 (15-17)