Schoolchildren sent to cotton fields in Jizak Region

Uznews.net reported last week that schoolchildren in the Jizak region of Uzbekistan have been ordered to leave their classrooms and help farmers cultivate cotton by weeding fields.

 

A local teacher said the campaign was preventing school leavers from revising before their graduation exams. Those sent to the fields are 15 and 16 year-olds.

Sources claim that Jizak Regional education department was involved in sending high school pupils to the cotton fields. The campaign is no surprise to many activists trying to end the Uzbek government’s reliance on forced child labour to maximise its yields from cotton growing and exports each year. 

 

Uzbekistan exports about 1 million tonnes of cotton fibre every year. The Jizak Region is an important cotton producing area for the country.