Darkness under the light: no education for children working at Dhaka University canteens

Some of the child labourers accuse general students, leaders of political groups, and their employers of physical and verbal abuse

Like any other teenager in a countryside town in Bangladesh, 13-year-old Md Kamal (not his real name) thought his childhood will only involve going to school, having friends over for chitchat, sports and other extracurricular activities until he graduates high school.

All his hopes and dreams crashed in one fell swoop when his father, the sole breadwinner in the family, died at the beginning of this year. Kamal’s family, in an act of desperation to survive in an economy dealing with soaring inflation, was forced to find him a job as an attendant at the students’ canteen at Dhaka University’s Shaheed Sergeant Zahurul Haque Hall, one of the oldest residential halls of the institution.

An attendant’s life is pretty hard.

Kamal’s working hours start very early in the morning and finish at 11pm, with no weekends whatsoever.

Although Kamal gets to live and eat for free at the canteen, his wages are embarrassing, a mere Tk 100 per day, cumulatively Tk 3,000 per month.

But for the family, considering their current economic predicament, that amount is a massive help, which means, for the former fifth-grader Kamal, there is no reprieve from this excruciating life in the foreseeable future.

Kamal’s life is not different from at least a few hundred teenagers who work in similar positions in other canteens of the total of 19 halls of residence of the university and other tea shops and convenience stores around the campus.

Depending on the age, their wages are similar to Kamal, from Tk 3,000 to Tk 5,000 a month.

The most ironic part of their lives is that these children do not have access to basic education because they have been working day in and day out at Bangladesh’s oldest and most prestigious higher education institution, which boasts the message “Education is Light” in its logo.

Under Bangladesh’s Children’s Act 2013, every person until they reach the age of 18 is considered a child.

And under the Labour Act of 2006, children under the age of 14 cannot be officially employed and not even their parents and legal guardians can force them to work.

DU AUTHORITIES LOOK TO THE FUTURE

Professor Md Akhtaruzzaman, the incumbent vice-chancellor, or VC, of the university, admits the irony.

He couldn’t offer any immediate solution for these teenagers as their incomes are a crucial help to their families.

“You won't have children at their age working at academic institutions in any developed nations. But we can’t just let them go, because their incomes play a major role in their families' survival,” he said.

However, the VC is confident that in about 10 years, Bangladesh’s socio-economic structure will reach such a level that teenagers will not come to the campus seeking a job for survival.

“At present, the only thing I can do is urge students, charities and volunteer organisations to come forward and help these children in learning,” he said.

Prof Akhtaruzzaman also said he had advised some of the charities and volunteer organisations to coordinate with the Open University so that they can use the venues assigned for the students of the Open University.

THE SAD STORIES

Every canteen in the residential halls has at least five teenagers working as attendants.

They carry the food and drink to the tables, and clean the tables and chairs. Some even sell flowers during their off hours on the street.

Kamal said the financial hardship of the family forced him to move here from his hometown in Chandpur. He has an earning elder brother, who is 2-year older than Kamal, but Kamal said his brother’s income is not enough for their family.

“It wasn’t my plan to work as an attendant. But my family and I are poor and that’s why I had to quit school and come here.”

Another attendant at the same dormitory, Rubel Alam (pseudonym) said he had to quit school when he was in the sixth grade because his family could not afford the cost of education.

“I couldn’t concentrate on my education as my family were financially struggling on every front. That’s why I came here to work,” he said.

Jahangir Hossain, the leaseholder of the canteen at Zahurul Haque Hall, said he would not have employed these teenagers if he had any other way to help them.

“Financial hardship is the sole reason for these children to end up here. They are from my hometown, and I brought them here because they had no other option,” he said.

“They were even struggling to afford three meals a day. At least here they can eat for free, make some money and send a portion of their income to their families.”

CHEAP LABOUR?

Some of these teenagers accused general students, student leaders belonging to different political groups, and employers of physical and verbal abuse.

“I am under constant threat from my employer. Worse still is the abuse I face from students, daily. I find it very disappointing that these students, who came to pursue higher education at the finest institution in the country, are generally so rude.

“They order us to bring their food to their room, and verbally abuse me if I am late or something is missing,” one such attendant at Haji Muhammad Mohsin Hall said.

Some of the leaseholders of the canteens raised the burning issue of keeping their operating costs at a minimum so that the students living in the halls can afford the food they serve.

All of them, however, agreed with VC Prof Akhtaruzzaman and their peer Jahangir Hossain, who called on the students, volunteers and charities to come forward to educate these teenagers.

“We are under pressure to deliver quality food at minimum cost. Otherwise, we won’t be able to do business here. If we are forced to hire adult attendants, we have to make some changes in our price list, which will be very unpopular among our target customers – the students,” one such leaseholder of a canteen said, without revealing his identity.

Tanbir Hasan Shaikat, a former member of Dhaka University Central Students' Union who has earned accolades for social work, has a solution.

Contradicting VC Akhtaruzzaman, Shaikat said the university must take responsibility for these children, at the very least.

He said the canteen leaseholders would not have to employ any child attendants had the university offered them subsidies to run their operations, just like it does to the students' mess.

“Look at the (hall dining centres). They don’t have any child labourers. Why? Because the university provides subsidies to the hall mess. But the canteen leaseholders get no such grants from the university authorities and they are under constant pressure to keep the charges minimum. That’s why they employ child labourers,” he said.

Shaikat was recognised as a 'Real Life Hero' by the United Nations as he took the responsibility to provide food to 500 to 1,000 destitute children on and around the campus for 116 days during the heydays of coronavirus lockdown.

VOLUNTEERS’ BEST IS NOT ENOUGH

When asked about these teenagers’ basic rights to education, leaseholder Jahangir said some charities and student organisations used to help out these children before the COVID-19 pandemic hit Bangladesh.

But as Bangladesh, as well as the rest of the world, has slowly been coming out of the pandemic, those bits of help and movements have died down.

“However, I still can allot some time for these children so that they can study if they want,” he said.

One such student-run volunteer organisation is Ghasful School.

The general secretary of the school, Md Azimul Haq, said they were forced to shut down the programme as the number of volunteers drastically fell during the pandemic.

“As soon as we get enough manpower, we will reopen the programme,” he said.

“Most of these children come here temporarily. They come here for a few days, we form a lesson plan, and they just leave at some point. We admit the students, who we believe will sustain, to the nearby Nilkhet Primary School and bear the expenses.”

Another such organisation is Save the Future, which runs 17 mobile schools across the country. They used to run a school on the Dhaka University campus before the pandemic.

The organisation’s Assistant Executive Director Hiron Talukder said they will reopen the school soon.

[Writing in English by Adil Mahmood; editing by Biswadip Das]