Combating child labour

Every year, June 12 is observed as Anti-Child Labor Day. The day aims to promote education for children under 14 years old, ensuring they are not employed. Like other countries worldwide, Bangladesh commemorates this day as "World Child Labor Prevention Day" through various events, adopting a specific theme each year.
This observance seeks to raise awareness about ending child labor, acknowledging the premature loss of childhood experienced by many children. Sadly, numerous children engage in hazardous work for minimal wages at places like railway stations, factories, tea shops, small roadside businesses, and homes for children, forfeiting their educational opportunities. Today's objective is to safeguard such children against such torments.
According to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, no child should be involved in any form of labour that compromises their education or health. However, due to Bangladesh's socio-economic conditions, around three million children are forced to engage in child labour, with half of them being bread earners for their families. The International Labor Organization (ILO) and UNICEF have identified approximately 300 economic activities involving children in urban areas. A survey of 709 factories found that 41.5 per cent of the workforce comprised 3,820 children, most aged 10-12 years. Unfortunately, labour laws are frequently disregarded in many enterprises.
Despite existing legislation in Bangladesh to curb child labour, enforcement remains inadequate, leading to widespread exploitation where children are employed at meager wages, often in dangerous conditions. They are denied their rightful status and opportunities for education. The BBS identifies 45 types of hazardous work, with 41 involving children.
Most children are compelled to work due to poverty, lacking the chance to combine learning with earning. While slogans against child labour are chanted in seminars on this day, their impact remains limited to rhetoric. Practical implementation is the imperative. The upcoming generation holds the future of our country, yet if they are ensnared in child labour, who will lead us forward? Now is the time for a unified stand against child labour. Government efforts alone are insufficient; the public must join hands to eradicate this scourge.

Sakibul Hasan
Student
Department of Sociology
Dhaka College
[email protected]