KIGALI, June 16 (Xinhua) -- Rwandan Minister of Gender and Family Promotion Esperance Nyirasafari Saturday warned employers in Rwanda against employing teenage children.
"We strongly condemn whoever employs teenagers and other kind of child labor because it affects not only children's education but also their development and well-being at large," Nyirasafari said at national celebrations to mark Day of the African Child in Gakenke district in northern Rwanda.
The government is putting efforts in investing in early childhood development by expanding early childhood development centers across the country, she said.
The country's vision is to build early childhood development centers in each village to benefit all Rwandan children, said the minister.
Speaking at the same event, Rwandan First Lady Jeannette Kagame called for collective effort to promote children's rights and fight obstacles to their healthy growth.
The government remains committed to see that no child is left out of access to education, she said.
According to her, 8,383 children have been rescued from hard labor and taken back to school since 2016.
The Day of the African child is commemorated on June 16 by all the African Union (AU) member states and their partners in memory of the Soweto uprising in South Africa during the apartheid in 1976, where students protested against the poor quality of education they received and demanded to be taught in their own language.
