How can child labour schemes help mainstream child labourers back to school? A case study of NCLP in Kolkata

Abstract: Child labour has been an issue which many governments and NGOs has tried to solve through various schemes, projects and acts. There is a universal agreement that education can help child labourers back to school, but there is a disagreement on how to do this. This thesis examines the Indian educational child labour scheme, National Child Labour Project (NCLP) in Kolkata, with a focus on the education, and state and NGO discourse. Through the theories of Spivak and Freire as well as current academics, and an interview with a prominent NCLP NGO in Kolkata, this thesis concludes that the NCLPs budget is too small for it to function as prescribed, and that the power imbalance and difference in discourse between NGOs and the state makes the NCLP unlikely to succeed. The thesis concludes with a recommendation to the Indian Government that they should invest more heavily in institutional schools, where the education is customised for the child labourers, with a place for the NGOs to come with feedback from the field.