Abolish curse of child labour

According to the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), there are 4.9 million working children in Bangladesh which is 14.2 percent of the total 36 million children in the age group of 5-14 years. The total number of working children between 5 and 17 years is about 7.9 million. The proportion of boy and girl child is 73.5: 26.5.

In Chunarughat Municipality under Habigonj district, for example, there are about 500 working children. At this age they are supposed to go to school. But the cruel reality of life forces many to drop out from school and join work. Most of the children here work at tea stalls while some have engaged themselves in breaking bricks. A noticeable number of the working boys pull rickshaws and a few work as street hawkers. In some cases, these young children (both boys and girls) get involved in illegal activities including smuggling and trading arms and drugs.

Child labour is a disgrace to the nation. So the government and people should work together to root out this evil from our society.

Asraful Islam Russel
Chunarughat, Habigonj