Breaking The Cycle - Working Children In Bangladesh

Working children are conspicuous in all aspects of life in both rural and urban Bangladesh. Unfortunately, poverty and other socioeconomic, and cultural factors perpetuate child labor. The book provides a poignant glimpse to the issue of children in the country, through snapshots and brief description of the each case situation concerning the subject. It is considered more than 6 million primary school-age children in Bangladesh are considered child laborers, because they work at the expense of attending school. They are engaged in the same economic activities as adults. Child work is more prevalent in rural areas, where children perform hidden labor, e.g., shepherding, ploughing, fishing, and collecting fodder and firewood. Most children working in rural areas work in informal trades, with only about 3 percent working in the formal industry. Recently however, there has been an aggressive drive by government and non-governmental institutions to provide primary school-age children with their basic right to education. Several innovative programs for children with special needs have been designed, and are being implemented. But many children in Bangladesh still do not go to school, or do not attend regularly due to poverty constraints.