Child Labour

Child Labour

Child labour is a burning question of the day. When the children of the age of 5-14 years are employed to work for pay or profit, or without pay in a family, enterprise or organization, it is called child labour. It has become a serious socio-economic problem in Bangladesh. It is a curse and a satire to our development programmers.
About one tenth of global children population under15 years of age work in various occupation, some of which are hazardous. Child  labour was first recognized as a social problem with the introduction of factories in the late 18th century in Great Britain. In the USA, it was acknowledged as a problem after the civil war. In earlier days, children worked as apprentices in factories or as servants in families. But in factories their employment soon turned into virtual slavery. Although most European nation had child labour laws by 1940, the urgency of production during the second world war brought many children back into the labour market.
Child labour in Bangladesh has become very acute nowadays. Approximately 19% of the total child population of Bangladesh works as child labour. The proportion is much higher in case of boys (22%) than  in case of girls (16%). A dense population, limited resources, poverty etc. have contributed to the increasing child labour in Bangladesh.

Child Labour

Child labour is a degradation of humanity. At this age, they are supposed to go to school. Instead, they take up hammer, busker, rickshaw or van in their hands and remain unfed, half-clad and bare-footed. Many of them work as domestic servants, whereas sometimes they are engaged to work in the fields, shops, hotels, restaurants and small factories. They are also seen to break bricks and to carry other building materials.
The root cause behind child labour is poverty. As most of the families have low income, their children are forced to do manual labour to support their families. Often  employers offer low pay for certain jobs which the grownups do not do. Such kinds of jobs are done by children. Unawareness and apathy of the parents towards education is another cause for child labour in Bangladesh. So, poverty, exploitation, deprivation and lack of good monitoring of law are the main causes of child lanbour.

Child Labour

Child labour destroys the sweet period of childhood and face the children with the hard realities of life. Wherever they are employed, they are deprived of proper care, food, medical treatment and basic human rights. Children work for longer hours but they are not given due wages. Sometimes,  they have to work in unhealthy atmosphere and are involved in risky or dangerous work. All are against the dignity and self-esteem of a child. It hampers their education as well as their physical and able to lead the nation in the future.
Child labour is not illegal in Bangladesh. But the law discourages the employment of children. There is a number of laws and Acts relating to the protection and welfare of children in Bangladesh. The shops and Establishments Act (1965) prohibits employment of children below 12 years in shops and commercial establishments. The factories Act (1965), the minimum Wages Ordinance (1961), the Children’s Act (1974) etc. provide for minimum age, wages and other facilities for juvenile workers in Bangladesh.

Child Labour

As a nation, we cannot remain simply a silent observer of child labour. Both the Govt. and other NGO’s should work together to root out this evil from the society. For this, poverty alleviation programme must be strengthened. Poor parents should be paid allowances to increase their income. Govt. must ensure that children do not drop out from schools. Strict laws should be enacted and enforced against employing children in manual work. After all, mass awareness against child labour should be raised amongst all people.
Children of today are the future of a country. A country of children without the light of education and having ill-health expedite the degeneration of the nation. In effect, they become a long standing burden on the nation. So, all of us must strive against child labour and ensure a peaceful, carefree and secured world for our children.