At the dawn of the World Children Day, most children of the world were gladly heading towards their schools. Many speeches were made on child rights. But in Nepal, students were returning from their school with gloomy faces as a strike had been announced.

We sign different charters regarding child rights but none of them are being implemented. Students are the drivers of the country’s future and should be allowed to contribute towards

the development of the country. But we are not even getting an

opportunity to pursue education properly.

When they should be studying in schools, many street children are using dangerous weapons to survive. Thousands of children below 15 years are employed in dangerous tasks at a minimum salary. Is this what we have voted our representatives for?

The main thing to be considered is implementing child rights. The charters signed should be implemented effectively and ‘Education for all’ should be brought into practice. The budget allocated for education should be spent in a proper manner. A separate court should be established to look after matters regarding children and child rights.

— Aayush Baral, Class X, VS Niketan Higher Secondary School