Child labor has reached epidemic numbers in India with statistics varying from 12 million to over 40 million child laborers in the country. According to UNICEF, India has the world's largest number of child laborers under the age of 14. In addition, according to Sarva Shiksha Abhiyana, the Indian government's Educational for All Movement, only 47 out of 100 children in India enrolled in class I reach class VIII, putting the dropout rate at almost 53%.

Asha for Education, a global non-profit organization dedicated to the education of underprivileged children in India, launched its 10th annual Work An Hour (WAH) online campaign on July 4, 2007. This year's campaign will help support 11 projects that focus on bringing basic education to neglected communities across India while simultaneously addressing the issue of child labor. The Work An Hour theme for 2007 - "Better Schools. Better Retention Rates. Decreased Child Labor." – was chosen to address India's burgeoning child labor and school dropout problem.

Asha for Education recognizes that the solution to combating child labor lies in part in strengthening and improving school retention rates. Keeping children within the walls of a classroom rather than a factory, construction site or restaurant, gives them an opportunity for a better future. Child laborers are often subject to psychological, physical or verbal abuse; have little or no pay; work excessive hours, often in dangerous environments; and have no access to education. Without education, children almost inevitably grow up to be adults who continue to work for low wages and this perpetuates the cycle of poverty and child labor.

WAH is a global fundraising campaign based on a simple concept. Participants are asked to symbolically Work An Hour towards the cause of children's education by donating an hour's worth or more of their salary. The campaign begins on July 4 and concludes on September 5, which is celebrated as Teachers' Day in India. Last year, the campaign raised over $130,000 and was supported by over 1,000 participants from around the world.

The 11 projects chosen for this year's WAH campaign represent various grassroots initiatives that focus on different target groups for school retention rates: children of sex workers, agricultural child laborers, abandoned and destitute children, and children of migratory workers. Projects are detailed on WAH's website at http://www.workanhour.com.

For more information or to donate online, please visit http://www.workanhour.com.

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