Nearly 49,000 child labourers, working at different dried fish farms around the Cox's Bazaar coastal area, lack education facilities, putting the district's mandatory primary education program under scrutiny.
Sources at the district administration's education department informed that almost 49,000 child labourers are currently active among the 350,000 fishermen in Kutubdia, Moheshkhali, Teknaf, Ukhia, and Cox's Bazaar sadar area. Most of these children, who are of school going age, come from poor families.
Four thousand children are working round the clock on the Moheshkhali Char area and the embankments at Poshchim Para of Sabrang union's Shah Porir Dwip. Starting work at 8am, these child labourers toil until evening, with only a half hour's break for lunch. The daily remuneration for their hard work is just Tk70-80.
Rabiul Hasan, 12, son of day labourer Salimullah in Moheshkhali's Kutubjom village, said: "With ailing parents at home, I have to work for a living. My brother and I work round the clock to earn only 180 each day, which helps our family of six to survive." Both brothers were forced to drop out from school four months ago.
Visits to Kutubdia's Tobler Chor, Moheshkhali's Shonadia, Cox's Bazaar's Fodnar Dail, and Nazirartek showed the children working in unhygienic conditions. Many are suffering from skin diseases due to constant contact with salt water and dried fish.
Aman Ullah,13, and Abul Hossain, 12, hailing from Cox's Bazaar's Nazirartek and Fodnar Dail respectively, said they had to quit school seven months ago and start working at dried fish farms in order to fight the pangs of poverty. The child labourers at the fish farms also informed that their main responsibilities include cleaning fish, hanging them out to dry in the sun, and helping in packing the fish in sacks for storage in the afternoon.
Anwar Hossain, a dried fish seller from Cox's Bazaar informed that among the 70,000 fishermen active in 12 villages of Nazirartek and Fodnar Dail, around 20,000 are children. Local fishermen are exploiting the low cost of child labour, he added.
Chairman of the Cox's Bazaar Fishing Boat Owners Association, Kabir Ahmed Shawdagar said 49,000 children under the age of 14 have left school to work in different dried fish farms of the district.
The district's primary education office said 317,225 students are enrolled in 599 government and private schools in 8 upazilas. Among them, 15.41%, or 46,000 students eventually drop out, putting dents in the realization of the government's mandatory primary school education program.
An official from the district primary education office said the students are being provided with textbooks and food, in order to draw them to schools. However, the parents prefer to send their kids to different workplaces for extra earnings. Many children are also being forced to become involved in professions like prawn gathering, dry fish preparation, restaurant waiters, wood gatherers etc.
Vice Chancellor of Cox's Bazaar Medical College, and a Paediatric specialist Arup Datta said insecticides and DD powder – which is used to kill mosquitoes – is used in the fish drying process. Exposure to these materials is very harmful for children, as they are more vulnerable to the toxic elements. Extensive exposure can lead to skin diseases, diarrhoea and various other illnesses, he added.
