Thailand Country Study Towards a Best Practice Guide on Sustainable Action Against Child Labour
By Natalie Bennett
Printed by Amarin, Bangkok, ISBN 974-8369-59-5
Chapter VII: Indicators
As discussed in Chapter 6, in Thailand it is important that efforts to promote and implement policies are narrowly focused on a few key priorities. Diffusion of efforts across too broad a range of programmes and projects may lead to expressions of support and good intentions by key actors, but unless this is followed up by close support and monitoring, this may not be translated into effective action on the ground. For this reason, in selecting indicators, within the guidelines provided by the Terms of Reference, by which to judge progress in the battle against child labour, the research teams has chosen to select a few key areas, rather than ranging across all potential areas of policies and programmes on child labour.
The indicators consist of a mixture of qualitative and quantitative measures, as while quantitative measures may be easier to access and collect, the many problems in ensuring their accuracy and standardisation across agencies limit their usefulness in many areas. Effective use of qualitative measures, conversely, requires development of detailed evaluation methods which do not now exist.
(a) Socio-economic Change
1. The percentage of households in the population classed as "poor".
2. The gap between the income of the top and bottom twenty percent of households.
3. The difference in the average household income in Bangkok and in the north-east and northern regions.
4. The contribution of agriculture to the GDP.
(b) Legislation and Policy
1. The raising of the minimum age for legal child employment to 15 years. (According to the National Plan, this should be completed by 2001.)
2. The expansion of legislation to cover child workers who are now not included under the provisions of the labour law, including those in the informal sector, in agriculture and fisheries, and young people working beside their parents.
3. The development of a detailed implementation plan for "The Child Labour Problem: A Prevention and Solution Plan 1997-2001," including explanation of funding sources for each programme associated with it, and its activation.
4. The strengthening of the NCLPC and its secretariat, to ensure its effective operation as a coordinating mechanism among and between policy and "line" government agencies.
(c) Implementation of Policy and Plans
1. The number of pilot projects addressing child labour issues effectively transformed into operational programmes on a regional or provincial level.
2. The creation in each "sending" province of a coordinating provincial plan for addressing child labour, incorporating inputs and perspectives from all relevant government agencies and NGOs, and including the operations of each within its framework.
3. The further strengthening of district labour centres in Bangkok and surrounding areas.
4. The number of NGO projects addressing child labour issues funded by the Thai government.
(d) Enforcement and Rescue
1. The number of prosecutions against employers of child labour, both within the internal MOLSW tribunal and the judicial system, lodged, heard and successfully completed.
2. The number of children rescued from abusive circumstances, and the number of these children known to have been successfully re-integrated within their home or other appropriate community.
(d) Media Attention
Measures of media interest in child labour issues are an as yet unutilised but potentially useful indicator in the progress of policies and programmes. All necessary data is now collected by the NSCOL, but has not been analysed. Two potentially useful indicators are easily identified.
1. A quantitative measure of the total number of articles and television items on the issue would give an overall indication of implementation of programmes and their interest to the general community.
2. Qualitatively, an analysis of their contents, for example whether the focus is on individual welfare or broader social issues, would give some indication of the progress of advocacy efforts in increasing understanding and concern about child labour, particularly among key decisionmakers and senior-level officials.
(e) Investment and Reform in Education
1. The level of national spending on primary and secondary education, including vocational training for school-leavers.
2. The retention rates of children from Grade 6 to 7, and Grade 9 to 10.
3. The drop-out rate of children prior to the end of Grade 6, and the drop-out rate in each year following that.
Ideally, there would also be qualitative measures to examine improvements in the quality of education offered. Development of effective measures of progress in this area, however, would require very considerable efforts from specialists in the field. It is thus outside the scope of this study, but nonetheless highly recommended.
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