TAWAU: Up to 20,000 children are said to be assisting parents in Sabah’s oil palm plantations – risking their safety, health, education and development in the process.
This estimate is based on the 2018 Employment Survey in Plantations by the Government which stated that 33,600 children aged 5-17 work in the industry, with Sabah accounting for 58.8pc.
“Education is the only way out of this generational trap, especially a cluster-based model where large plantation firms host regional learning centres serving multiple smaller estates.
window.googletag = window.googletag || {cmd: []};googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.defineSlot('/22826383987/dailyexpress_inline', [1, 1], 'gpt-passback').addService(googletag.pubads());googletag.enableServices();googletag.display('gpt-passback');});“These children are invisible in the system and without access to formal education, many end up helping their parents in the fields from as young as seven or eight.,” said William Tan Boon Lian, Deputy-Chairman of Agriculture & Aquaculture Committee of the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia cum the Deputy-president of Tawau Chinese Chamber of Commerce (TCCC).
