It goes without saying that education is important and that all children should have basic access to it. As someone working and studying in international education and development, there is constant exposure to both the immersive learning that occurs around us and the gaps that persist in today’s intersectional world.
However, the burdens and benefits are not equally shared for children exposed to harsh working conditions. While all children have the potential for creativity, those working in brick kilns are limited to laboring in extreme conditions, using their skills only to build and fire bricks. The moral, environmental, and human consequences extend far beyond Nepal’s brick kilns.
As of 2024, an estimated 138 million children are engaged in child labor worldwide, according to the International Labour Organization. In the Asia-Pacific region, there are 27.7 million child laborers, about 10% of whom are between the ages of 5 and 17. In Nepal alone, there are 1.1 million child laborers, based on earlier estimates from the International Labour Organization.
Nepal experiences both internal and external migration, with approximately 17,000 children engaged in seasonal work and 35,000 residing in brick kilns. About 50% of migrant brick kiln laborers come from India, as noted by the International Labour Organization. The labor movement, along with child labor initiatives, highlights that many children are at risk of being trafficked across borders for minimal wages.
Effective monitoring mechanisms are essential, given the risks involved in industries using child labor.
Reports from the International Labour Organization and UNICEF note that cross-border child labor has been occurring for several decades. Within Nepal, a national child labor elimination committee exists, alongside regional initiatives such as the South Asian Initiative to End Violence Against Children (SAIEVAC), which spans Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. Despite these initiatives, the role of education as a means to address child labor across borders remains unclear.
The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 8.7 aims to end child labor in all its forms by 2025, as outlined by UNICEF. Additionally, the Asia-Pacific region has seen a decline in child labor from 62 million in 2023 to 27.7 million currently, according to the International Labour Organization.
Nepal’s National Master Plan on Child Labor (2018–2028) also set an ambitious goal of eliminating all forms of child labor by 2025; however, progress remains uneven, and poverty alleviation continues to dominate policy priorities. Despite acknowledging the need for coordination among organizations, Nepal’s Free and Compulsory Education Act (2021) does not address children working in brick kilns.
Children residing within brick kiln premises, from both Nepal and neighboring countries, often lack permanent schools, targeted materials, or a proper educational environment, as highlighted by CESLAM. Seasonal laborers may not attend school even in their home villages. There are also gendered dynamics: boys often work in brick kilns to buy personal items, while girls’ work may relate to delaying forced marriage.
Some initiatives, such as Bridge School, provide early childhood education in brick kilns. However, national, regional, and global interventions must continue—not only to eradicate child labor but also to ensure meaningful educational opportunities.
Therefore, education interventions are urgently needed. Considering the replicable and supply-chain nature of child labor, addressing it requires a global perspective.
This requires understanding the dynamics among parents, teachers, students, and labor inspectors in countries involved in brick kiln labor, including Nepal, India, and Bangladesh. Although the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child guarantees the right to education for all children, brick kiln child laborers often lack even basic access to education.
Factors such as border-area culture, the role of informal labor contractors, curricula designed for brick-kiln children, and dedicated social workers and teachers must be considered in child labor and education policies. Effective monitoring mechanisms are essential, given the risks involved in industries using child labor.
Addressing this issue is not about targeting a specific industry but about rethinking global and local education initiatives, promoting public-private partnerships, and using market incentives alongside educational strategies. The invisibilization of education poses risks not only to countries that send and receive child laborers but also to the long-term development of global citizens and nomadic cultural groups.
According to global estimates from the International Labour Organization, nearly 70% of children engaged in child labor work in agriculture, totaling over 100 million children. Many seasonal migrant laborers work in agriculture during the rainy season and in brick kilns afterward.
Therefore, education interventions are urgently needed. Considering the replicable and supply-chain nature of child labor, addressing it requires a global perspective. Education in Every Home aims to contribute to educational reform and hopes for better investment and attention to the sensitive issue of child labor.
(The author is a Master of Arts (MA) International Training and Education Program student at the School of Education, American University, Washington, D.C. Prakriti is also a co-founder of the not-for-profit organization Education in Every Home)
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