KUALA LUMPUR: Decline in household incomes have had a negative impact on children, forcing many into the workforce earlier to assist in their family finances.

Datuk Noor Aziah Mohd Awal, Professor of Law (Family, Women and Children) at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) said a National Action Plan on Child Labour is crucial to protect children from exploitation and abuse.

Although there are no official figures for child labour cases in the country, she told Astro Awani that the Office of the Children’s Commissioner at the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) had reported several cases involving refugee children and children working in plantations.

“If we want to abolish or curb child labour in Malaysia, then there must be a proper National Action Plan for Child Labour,” she said while emphasising the importance of ensuring all children had equal access to education, regardless of who they are.

“The law must be looked into in such a way that children must be (recognised) as children. They need to go to school. School must be the first priority.”

Meanwhile, there needs to be more support for children from lower-income families, especially the ones who have fallen behind in their studies after missing out on online lessons for two years.

It should be one of Putrajaya’s focuses for Budget 2023, said Noor Aziah.

Support could come in the form of food allowances for children and free transportation for those living far away from their schools. Remedial or extra classes could also be offered to students struggling to cope with the “lost time”.

“There must be some sort of effort to assist them so that they would not be pushed towards dropping out from school and then finding a job.”

Should there still be a need for children to work and assist their families, it must only be allowed for fixed hours after school. Noor Aziah added that they also need to be paid accordingly, without discrimination or exploitation.

“This is something that we seriously need to look into, in order to assist children. They should be able to get proper education, which will help with curbing or reducing the number of child labour at the same time.”