Child labour deprives children of their childhood

Children from poor families take risky jobs at Shyampur in Dhaka although employing children in such jobs is forbidden by the law. Photo: Mahmud Zaman Ovi

Child labour is an endemic issue in Bangladesh.

According to the National Child Labour Survey 2022, Bangladesh has 39.96 million children aged 5-17. Of them, 1,776,097 children engage in child labour, and 1,068,212 engage in ‘hazardous’ child labour daily.

The Convention on Child Rights states that every child has a right to a healthy life, childhood and education.

Child labour robs children of these fundamental rights, pushing them towards hazardous jobs like working at construction sites, factories or as domestic helpers.

High illiteracy rates, poverty, social norms, and weak labour laws are the leading causes responsible for child labour in our country.

Low-income families still believe that every child is a potential breadwinner for the family. And as these children grow up, they are put to work from an early age.

In Bangladesh, child labourers are exposed to unsafe working conditions, which often make them ill or cause severe psychological damage.

Child labourers live in the same world as you and I, but their reality and struggles differ entirely from ours. These children want nothing more than their childhood back.

Reporter’s age: 15 | Rangpur