The boy left his school studies to join an attar factory in Kamrangirchar. Two years ago, at the initiative of a local NGO, he had left work to be admitted to Class-II at the Siddique Miah Government Primary School there. School closed down last March when coronavirus broke out.
The child's family, poor as it was, faced even more financial suffering under the impact of the pandemic. This 12-year-old boy had no alternative but share in shouldering the family's burden. He now works at the Kazi Plastic Factory in Nurbagh, Kamrangirchar.
Telling Prothom Alo about his work, the child said, "I 'fit' plastic toys." Before that? "I would 'fit' caps on attar bottles." He said he was the youngest of three siblings. His father was a rickshaw-puller. The boy earns Tk 800 a week if he can 'fit' 100 toys. He works from 9:00 am to 9:00 pm at the factory.
Around 2,500 children who left work and joined school, had returned to work in order to help their families during coronavirus. And 2,400 children had joined even more hazardous jobs for lower wages
Many children who had been removed from labour to be admitted to school, had been pushed back to work by coronavirus, said concerned persons of the government and non-government sector.
According to a survey run by the non-government Manusher Jonno Foundation (MJF) on 33,000 child workers, around 2,500 children who left work and joined school, had returned to work in order to help their families during coronavirus. And 2,400 children had joined even more hazardous jobs for lower wages. A total of 7,800 children had joined hazardous work anew.
The MJF survey was run from last April to this April under the 'Protection of Working Children' (PWC) programme. Eleven partner organisations of MJF carried out the survey under this programme in Dhaka (Kamrangirchar and Keraniganj), Cumilla, Barishal, Jashore and Khulna.
And amid these circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic, World Day Against Child Labour is being observed on 12 June. The national theme for the day this time is ' Mujib Borsho calls to end child labour.'
The government is carrying out a lot of relief activities during the coronavirus pandemic and providing financial assistance. The families may be pushing their children into work again because schools are closed and the second wave of coronavirus has scared them
When asked whether children of poor families were taking up work again due to financial crisis caused by coronavirus, secretary of the labour and employment ministry KM Abdus Salam told Prothom Alo, "I do not think so. The government is carrying out a lot of relief activities during the coronavirus pandemic and providing financial assistance. The families may be pushing their children into work again because schools are closed and the second wave of coronavirus has scared them. Data and information is required to talk about these issues. I feel that the children will be back to school immediately once the schools reopen."
Rafeza Shaheen , coordinator of MJF's child safety division, told Prothom Alo, people are desperately looking for employment during the coronavirus outbreak. Many children had been removed from work and sent to school, but it hasn't been possible to hold on to that achievement. Many children are facing a worse situation than before.
Convenor of the drafting committee of the National Plan of Action to Eliminate Child Labour and executive director of the NGO, INCIDIN Bangladesh, AKM Masud Ali, told Prothom Alo, if the latest child labour survey is compared with the previous one, it will be seen that it has been possible to bring down child labour by half. But there has been less decrease in hazardous child labour.
He further said it has been possible to remove only 10,000 children from hazardous labour. This indicates that the general initiatives to tackle child labour are not reaching hazardous child labour fast enough. Conditions should be given to poor families that they will get financial assistance if the educate their children instead of sending them to work, Masud Ali added.
* This report appeared in the print and online edition of Prothom Alo and has been rewritten in English by Ayesha Kabir