“We believe that allowing the children of workers to access quality education is crucial to support their well-being and create a sustainable future,” said the RSPO Smallholder Programme Manager for Indonesia, Guntur Cahyo Prabowo, in an interview with The Jakarta Post recently.

He went on to say, “To that end, the RSPO Principles and Criteria [P&C] for the Production of Sustainable Palm Oil, which were revised and adopted in 2018, now include more stringent criteria for the rights and protection of children.”

According to Guntur, there are a number of ways in which RSPO members address these challenges: providing on-site education facilities for workers’ children; engaging with other companies in the vicinity to improve the public provision of education, and supporting the local school system through a public-private partnership that might fund maintenance, and helping to organise teacher training or top-up teacher salaries.

“Whatever the approach, it is important to ensure that all workers’ children are included in the programme and no child is left out. This means paying special attention to vulnerable groups, such as the children of migrant workers or single-headed households,” he said.

RSPO standards prohibit any form of child labour and make it clear that work by children is only acceptable on family farms under adult supervision, when not interfering with education programmes, when children are part of the family and when they are not exposed to hazardous working conditions.

Unequal access to education, especially in rural areas close to oil palm plantations, has raised great concern among many parties, including governments, the private sector and international organisations.

Although complete data is not available, existing research suggests a worrying trend of child labour in the palm oil industry, said Guntur.

He attributed this trend to multiple factors, such as the absence of on-site childcare facilities and pressure on parents to reach daily targets. “Some groups are more vulnerable than others, for example, those without birth certificates or the children of migrants. There is a fine line between ‘child worker’ and ‘child assisting parents’, which may lead to child labour situations,” he said.

According to Guntur, tackling this challenge is immense and requires a multi-faceted approach. “Companies must implement preventive measures, such as a decent salary for parents, access to childcare and education and age verification procedures.”

RSPO Smallholder Credits

Amid the arduous challenges, the RSPO, which has about 6,000 certified smallholders, is committed to helping rural children gain equal access to education. One concrete example is its assistance to Asosiasi Petani Swadaya Berkah Mandah Lestari (APBML) in initiating a scholarship donation programme in Jambi Province.

APBML, located in the Tungkal Ulu and Batang Atam districts of West Tanjung Jabung Regency, Jambi province, is home to 291 oil palm farmers covering 707 hectares across eight villages. APBML has been certified by the RSPO since 2019, with the help of Yayasan Setara Jambi, an organisation of environmental and human rights activists.

Guntur explained that through this scholarship donation initiative, farmers in the district were able to sell their Smallholder Credits, which were equivalent to the volume of certified palm oil produced, through the RSPO’s trading platform, PalmTrace.

“Through the trading platform, APBML has been able to raise US$66,350 [Rp 962 million] per annum,” he said.

“This year, APBML set aside a portion of its RSPO Smallholder Credits sales, Rp 60 million, to support the education of children in the district. Further support was provided by  RSPO Smallholder Credit buyers, Unilever and ACT, which are also members of the RSPO,” he noted.

He added that APBML had provided scholarships to 100 school-age children. The scholarships aimed to support elementary to university-level students in the completion of their studies.

“It addresses the barrier of accessibility and economic means that prevent many students from obtaining an education. As part of the scholarship, recipients receive between Rp 500,000 and 1,000,000 per annum to attend school in the Tungkal Ulu area and in the city of Jambi,” he said.

According to Guntur, plans are underway to continue the scholarship programme beyond the year. Additionally, APBML also provides assistance to schools and Islamic boarding schools.

The programme is run directly by APBML, with the support of the village government.

“As part of the 2018 RSPO Principles and Criteria (P&C), all certified members are obligated to protect children's rights. Beyond ensuring that children are not employed or exploited, members have committed to ensuring children’s access to education,” he said.

According to him, smallholders have been active champions of this cause. “They have spearheaded various models, including one where a portion of incentives from the sale of RSPO Smallholder Credits has been channelled back to support education for children. There are currently 48 smallholder groups in Indonesia. Some examples of smallholders’ support for education include KUD Mekar Sari and KUD Sumber Rejeki in South Sumatra.

In KUD Mekar Sari, an award ceremony was organised in June 2020 for the top three students in each class at the early childhood education centre (PAUD), kindergarten (TK) and elementary school (SD) levels. They also continue to provide education allowances in the form of school bags and stationery for underprivileged elementary school children.

Meanwhile, at KUD Sumber Rejeki, the group provides scholarships to high-achieving and underprivileged kindergarten, elementary and junior high school students.

In tandem, member companies’ initiatives in Indonesia include providing educational facilities at the plantation location for the children of workers, supporting the education system through public schools and non-formal education for vulnerable children and youth.

“Supporting children’s rights and equal access to education ultimately benefits business. Industry must be sensitive to the communities in which they operate and focus on ways that they can generate mutual, long-term benefits for all parties through their actions,” Guntur said.

Guidance documents

According to Guntur, there are specific advantages for businesses implementing clear policies around issues like children’s rights and access to education.

“First, such policies can help us achieve better risk management through an expanded definition of risk that accounts for environmental and social issues, including human rights. This ensures that as business leaders, we are looking at a holistic picture of our operations and are better prepared to take on relevant scenarios.”

“Second, we can boost our efforts to recruit and retain a motivated workforce as well as develop the next generation of talent. Regardless of geography, employees seek a company that will empower them as parents or caregivers to combine their family responsibilities with a productive work life. Companies with a clear point of view on issues like children’s rights, fair wages, and so forth demonstrate their understanding of community, leading to more productivity, leadership, and engagement among workers.

“Finally, a focus on such policies allows businesses to contribute to a stable and sustainable business environment in their home countries by working for the good of children and helping to build strong, well-educated communities, healthy populations, robust businesses and growing economies,” he explained.

“We know that increasing overall household income is directly linked to increasing enrolment in school for children in the plantation sector. For this reason, it would be valuable to focus on moving the needle in provinces that have the largest population of families with children in the plantation sector,” he said.

Based on 2013 National Socioeconomic Survey (Susenas) data, the provinces with the largest population of families with children on plantations are North Sumatera, South Sumatera and Riau.

“Businesses must also consider how they are supporting fair wages and educating parents in their workforce on the importance of education access for their children.”

“To do this, the RSPO believes that including access to education within grower procedures and sustainability standards are essential. In the RSPO’s work with smallholder members to improve equal access to education in communities, we must come together around some existing challenges that can be geographical, administrative, social, financial or even cultural.”

“We must be sensitive to these issues and work together with the community to find the best solutions. For example, in rural areas, physical schools are often sparse and those facilities that do exist often have poor infrastructure,” he said.

“We know that access to quality education is one of the most effective ways to keep children out of child labour and lift communities out of poverty. The RSPO works with its smallholder members to improve compliance with the 2019 RSPO Independent Smallholder Standard and for big growers’ compliance with the 2018 RSPO P&C,” he said.

“We provide our members guidance documents in providing tailored support so that we can begin discussions with local leaders on interventions that can improve the livelihoods of children and their families in a way that makes sense for the community,” he said.

In helping children gain access to education in villages close to oil palm plantations, the RSPO, together with the Centre for Child Rights and Corporate Social Responsibility (CCR CSR) and Proforest, has jointly developed practical guidance for palm oil producers to improve their business policies and practices when it comes to children.

“The RSPO hopes that these guidance documents will encourage stakeholders to take greater strides in supporting child rights protection, particularly when it comes to access to education,” Guntur said.

Looking ahead, the RSPO remains committed to ensuring that children’s rights, including access to education, are well integrated into its practices and systems. “This is to ensure that palm oil producers contribute to positive community development,” he concluded.

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