800 child workers to get primary education

Some 800 children who are engaged in hazardous jobs under the jurisdiction of six police stations in thetwo Dhaka city corporations will receive primary education for next three years.

After completion of primary education, they will be included in the mainstream education or lower secondary schools, said Educo officials. Educo is implementing the project in cooperation with Eco-Social Development Organisation (ESDO).

While speaking at the inaugural programme, Afzal Kabir Khan, manager (child labour elimination) of Educo, said that earlier they enrolled some 2,300 children who were integrated into the mainstream education system while another 1,800 children were eliminated from hazardous works in between 2000 and 2020.

He said 800 child workers aged between 8 and 12 years and engaged in hazardous child labour will get the opportunities in eight schools, known as bridge schools in the slum areas situated at Darussalam, Adabar, Mohammadpur, Hazaribagh, Lalbagh and Kamrangirchar.

Chairman of National Human Rights Commission Bangladesh Dr Kamal Uddin Ahmed inaugurated the programme. The three-year project will be funded by Educo, KOICA and ChildFund Korea.

Taeyoung Kim, Country Director of KOICA Bangladesh said, “Education provides children with the opportunity to break free from the cycle of poverty and gives them a chance to dream and to make that dream a reality.”

Ignacio Siles Fernández-Palacios, Deputy Head of Mission of the Spanish Embassy in Bangladesh, mentioned that child rights cannot be guaranteed without proper access to education and eradication of child labour.

Country Director of Educo Bangladesh Abdul Hamid gave his welcome speech. Officials from the Ministry of Labour, UNICEF, International Labour Organisation, international non-governmental organisations and media personnel were also present at the programme.