Is combining child labour and school education the right approach? Investigating the Cambodian case

The paper considers whether letting children combine work and school is a valid and effective approach in Cambodia. Policy makers’ suggestions that child labour should be allowed to some extent due to household poverty appear ungrounded as no significant relation between children’s work and household poverty is found while arranging school timetables flexibly in order to accommodate households’ perceived need for children’s labour may increase problems of insufficient teaching hours if schools conduct their timetables unreliably. Considering these issues, the paper suggests the need for a more diversified approach to dealing with the impact of child labour on their school education. 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.