The revelation that children in Sri Lanka are engaging in illegal labour while wearing school uniforms should unsettle every conscience. It is not merely a tactic to avoid detection. It is a quiet indictment of a system that has allowed economic desperation to erode the most basic promise we make to children: that school is a place of learning, not a disguise for survival.
According to the Ministry of Labour, children under the age of 18 are being sent to work instead of school, some even forced into begging, while dressed as students. The image is haunting. A uniform that symbolises education, safety and opportunity is being repurposed as camouflage. This is not a matter of clever deception. It is a sign of how deeply poverty and vulnerability have seeped into daily life, pushing families to choices no child should have to bear.
The Ministry Secretary’s acknowledgement that economic hardship is driving this trend is important. Sri Lanka is still grappling with the social aftershocks of economic crisis, inflation and job losses. Families in plantation areas, fishing communities and informal sectors are among the hardest hit. Yet, acknowledging hardship cannot become an excuse for normalising child labour, nor can it dilute the State’s responsibility to intervene decisively.
Child labour is not simply about children working. It is about children being denied their rights. The right to education. The right to physical and mental wellbeing. The right to protection from exploitation. When a child spends their day selling goods, working in fields, serving tourists or begging on the streets, those rights are compromised. The long-term cost is not just borne by the child, but by society as a whole.
Sri Lanka has ratified international conventions, strengthened domestic laws and publicly committed to eliminating child labour. On paper, the framework exists. In practice, this latest development shows how enforcement gaps and weak social protection allow violations to continue in subtler, more troubling forms.
A child occasionally helping parents after school is not the same as a child missing classes to earn income. But this distinction must not become a grey area that enables abuse. Clear criteria, active monitoring and community-level oversight are essential, especially in sectors like plantations, fishing and tourism where child labour is often hidden in plain sight.
What is most alarming is the involvement of children in begging. This is not informal work or family assistance. It is exploitation, often linked to organised networks, neglect or abuse. Children begging in uniform is a direct assault on their dignity and a failure of multiple State institutions. Law enforcement, child protection authorities, social services and local administrations must act together, not in isolation, if this practice is to be eradicated.
Ensuring the rights of children must be a Government priority not because international bodies demand it, but because no nation can claim progress while its children are forced to trade education for income. Enforcement alone will not solve this problem. Raids and arrests, if not accompanied by rehabilitation, risk further traumatising children and punishing families without addressing root causes.
What is urgently needed is a coordinated response that combines strict enforcement with strong social support. Families that rely on a child’s income need targeted assistance, whether through cash transfers, food security programmes, school meal expansions or livelihood support for parents. Schools must be equipped to identify absenteeism early and intervene before children disappear into informal labour. Communities must be educated to report violations without fear or stigma.
Most importantly, children rescued from labour must not be returned to the same conditions that pushed them there. Education support, counselling and long-term monitoring are essential if rescue is to mean recovery.
A school uniform should never be a tool of survival. It should be a symbol of hope, equality and a future shaped by learning rather than labour. When children are forced to wear it to work, it is not just the law that is being violated. It is our collective responsibility.
Protecting children is not a side issue to be addressed when convenient. It is a moral and developmental imperative. If Sri Lanka is serious about building a just and resilient society, it must start by ensuring that every child is in school, safe, and free to be a child.