CMNT_TITLE

Repetition

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (c). Use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs. The Committee previously noted that the Narcotics Act of 1967 as well as the Crimes Act of 2013 do not specifically establish offences related to the use, procuring of offering of a child for the production and trafficking of drugs. It also noted the Government’s statement that the national legislation need to be amended in order to include the prohibition of drug trafficking by children under the age of 18. Noting the absence of any further information in the Government’s report, the Committee once again requests the Government to take the necessary measures without delay to ensure the prohibition of the use, procuring or offering of children under 18 years of age for illicit activities, including the production and trafficking of drugs. It requests the Government to provide information on any progress made in this regard.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Access to free basic education. In its previous comments the Committee noted the Government’s information that following the implementation of the School Fee Grant Scheme (SFGS), the number of children enrolled in the primary level had increased and that the SFGS had been extended to secondary schools for grades 9 to 11. It also noted the development of the Samoa Education Sector Plan 2012–18, entitled “Improved focus on access to education and training and quality learning outcomes”, which contains 22 programmes of activities. The Committee further noted that the Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its 2016 concluding observations, was concerned about the hidden costs of education, low enrolment rates and high drop-out rates at the secondary school level, and gender gaps characterized by a lower enrolment rate of boys (CRC/C/WSM/CO/2-4, paragraph 50).

The Committee notes the Government’s information in its report that, since 2017, the Ministry of Education, Sports and Culture, along with school attendance officers (school principals, inspectors and committees), have been focusing on monitoring the compliance of the compulsory education indicator within the revised School Minimum Service Standards of 2016. The Government indicates that these concerted efforts have been very successful and that 106 of the 167 community/village schools have established by-laws on compulsory education for children from the age of 5 to 14 years. In this regard, the Committee notes that according to the UNESCO estimates, in 2016 the net enrolment rate (NER) in primary education was 94.86 per cent (96.11 female and 93.7 male) and the NER in secondary education was 77.27 per cent. There was a total of 1,275 children and adolescents who were out of school in 2016. The Committee further notes the Government’s indication that the Parliament has proposed an increase in the compulsory school age from 14 years to 16 years, in the current Education Bill. While welcoming the measures taken by the Government, the Committee encourages it to pursue its efforts to facilitate access of all children to free basic education. It requests the Government to continue providing information on the measures taken in this regard, and the results achieved, particularly with regard to increasing school enrolment and attendance rates and reducing school drop-out rates. To the extent possible, this information should be disaggregated by age and gender. The Committee further requests the Government to provide information on any progress made with regard to the raising of the compulsory school age to 16 years in the Education Bill.