A Child is the future of a nation and if a nation forces a child to be labour, its future is bleak. This is as good as a maxim which is largely ignored in our society. The ILO has banned Child labour. when Children are supposed to be at schools, they are doing odd and hazardous jobs to support themselves and their families.
Bangladesh is witnessing a steep climb in Child labour, with the latest government Survey Showing that about 9.2 percent of children are engaged in work, up from 6.8 Percent in 2019.
According to a new Survey, an estimated 1.2 million additional children have entered child labour Since 2019. The multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (Mics) launched on Sunday, highlights stark disparities in child labour across gender, age, education, and region.
The Survey also reveals that children are exposed to dangerous conditions such as extreme heat, harmful dust, toxic chemicals, heavy loads, and unsafe tools and machinery.
Thus, Bangladesh enters world Children's Day under the Shadow of a worsening child rights. An enormous number of children are working for small pittance in hazardous Jobs.
Child labour is a single issue that can hold the nation back from achieving sustainable development Goals, like universal secondary education and quality education, poverty eradication and decent work for all. There is something wrong with our country which depends on children for earning income for the families to keep them afloat. A significant pernicious effect of child labour is that Children are deprived of their childhood which is a period of fun, frolic, play and learning. Child labour also removes the dignity and freedom vitally important for children to grow as future worthy citizens.
Against this backdrop, it is imperative for the authorities concerned to implement strictly the national education Policy, 2010 that makes education compulsory up to grade eight immediately. But if the root causes- poverty and lack of parental awareness- are not addressed properly, the pressure on children cannot be reduced.
Parents' livelihoods must be stabilised to curb child labour. There is a mismatch between adult’s income and the cost of living. Low-income families are unable to meet their daily expenses.
Without addressing this, awareness drives alone will not solve the problem. Besides, the National Social Security (NSSS), 2015, should be made effective to provide better coverage of the safety net to families which are forced by poverty to send their children to work for the dire need of survival. We earnestly want to see the end of child labour, especially in hazardous jobs sooner than later. We think social awareness, safety net, economic incentives can improve things in the area of child labour.
