Prey Veng province is located about 90 kilometers from Phnom Penh. It is the fourth largest and 2nd poorest province of the 24 provinces and municipalities in Cambodia. Prey Veng is comprised of 12 districts, 116 communes and 1,137 villages. The total land of the province is 4,883 square kilometers. The total population in the province is 1,103,703 (575,417 females [52%] and 528,286 males [48%]) comprised of 230,429 families. The female-headed household accounts for about 20% of provincial home. The population density is 226 people per square kilometers, 3 times higher than the nation average. The average number of people per family is 5.5. (Source: 2006 Provincial Data-based of Prey Veng Province, Rural Development Commission September 2007)
The majority of the people who live in the Prey Veng province are Khmer citizens, comprising over 99% of the population. Only 1.13% are from an ethnic minority which include Vietnamese, Muslim and Laotian immigrants. Serious poverty (53% of population are living under the poverty line compared to 36% nationwide), lack of community-based support mechanisms and a limited of understanding of the consequences of child labor are prevalent in the province. Blind migration due to poverty is also ubiquitous. Many children and women migrate to seek employment in the cities or neighboring countries and are vulnerable to trafficking and sexual/labor exploitation. In addition, those younger children or siblings who remain in the villages are at high demand for child labor, as almost all families are involved in subsistence agriculture.
The target area also suffers from a high rate of children dropping out of school and smaller rice yields relative to surrounding communes due to frequent flooding and isolated location. This is due to almost 70% of the population living under the poverty line and 50% having no land for agriculture. In terms of education, while there is a steady increase in the number of enrolment at the primary level, many still drop out after the completion of the their primary school education. Many factors can explain this such as poverty, unavailability of school in the area, long distance to the nearest school, no high school education, etc. For those who are enrolled in primary school, they are also at risk of dropping out of school due to the high demand of their services at home.
It is reported anecdotally that almost every child in each house is involved directly in the agriculture sector such as in harvesting, ploughing, or is indirectly involved in carrying out duties such as child care, household activities etc. While there is no reliable statistic or data on how many children are actually involved in agriculture, it is believed that these observations reflect the real situation of child labor in the provinces.
Child Labor in the brick-making sector is also widespread in the province. Currently there are thirty-two brick-making businesses which exist in five districts of the province. While there is no reliable data or information regarding the number of workers’ involved in the businesses, it has been reported that child labor in the sector is quite extensive. The costs for child laborers are cheaper and easier to control and manage than for adult workers. That is the main reason why they are in most demand.
As noted above, the majority of Cambodian families in the Prey Veng are involved in the agriculture sector. It is documented that 216,893 families are involved in agriculture (94%); 932 families are involved in handicrafts; 8,339 in services and 4,265 are unemployed or are not sure about their working status). In 2006, 15,515 families (or about 7% families) who depended on the subsistence agriculture were badly hit by natural disasters.
For the educational system, there are four stages of education, preschool, primary (Grade 1-6) and secondary school (Year 7-12), in which secondary school is divided into lower and higher secondary school (Year 7-9 and 10-12 respectively).
Currently, 233 pre-schools (152 are community and 51 are public preschool) exist in Prey Veng province which is comprised of 327 teachers (98% are female teachers). For primary schools, there are 541 schools comprised of 4,195 teachers, in which only 28% are female teachers. There are 74 Lower Secondary Schools comprised of 1,133 teachers, of which about 24% are female teachers. As it can be seen, the number of female school teachers is low compared to the number of male school teachers.
The reason is obvious because girls have less opportunity to be educated and to be in school when they are young. While the trend of girl education is improving now, it is still common that girls tend to drop out of school more than boys. In term of Higher Secondary School, there are currently only 21 schools, which comprise 914 teachers, of which about 30% are female teachers.
Child Labor Situation in Prey Veng Province
Economic activity among young children in poor families in Cambodia is very common. This phenomenon is due to their families‘deprived economic situation, lack of alternative viable employment opportunities for adult members in their families, and a common cultural belief that children need to help in household chores especially among girl children. Child labor in the agriculture sector has been in existence in the country for a long time now since over 90% of the population in the rural areas is involved in the agriculture sector. It has increased rapidly in recent times resulting from poverty, rapid population growth, migration of families and adults to urban areas and developing areas, and a weak educational system. At present, child labor in agriculture is widely accepted by people in all walks of life and is often encouraged. While some types of child labor in subsistence agriculture have been recently approved by the Government as the Worst Forms of Child Labor, there are some types of child labor in subsistence agriculture that do not yet fall into one or the other of the specified categories of the “Worst Forms of Child Labor”. This is because these types of work have been culturally accepted. However, these types of work should fall into the worst forms too as the conditions of the work nature contain some of the following hazards and exploitative conditions.
• Strenuous long hours, unpaid/ underpaid, no days-off (weekly or holidays), heavy loads, unsafe working conditions, exposure to risk, inadequate food
• Limited or no access to education, medical care, recreation and adequate lodging
• No defined terms of employment
• Debt bondage
Due to people overlooking this issue and the cultural acceptance of the nature of child labor in subsistence agriculture, the extent of the problem has not yet been realized. In fact, since there is a tradition of cultural acceptance of child labor in the public sector and it has always been seen as a common practice; it is not often recognized as a problem for children in Cambodia.
Among the main conclusions that can be gleaned from existing information on child laborers in Prey Veng are the following:
• Child laborers in subsistence agriculture are vulnerable in their present situations and, more often than not, are exploited
• Health and safety concerns for child laborers have always been regarded as marginal issues among family and community
• Education opportunities are very limited if not totally absent
• The lack of intervention in this area has led to retarded physical and mental development of these children.