Covid helps spread child labor in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is facing immense challenges, especially in the education sector due to Covid-19, According to the recent report of ILO and UNICEF as Covid-19 pushed millions of children into child labor in Bangladesh. The shutdown of the schools for more than a year and the reduction of family income exposed school-going children to the risk of child labor. The availability of child workers at low wages makes child labor popular nowadays. They are mostly engaged with roadside workshops (repairs, welding, furniture making, etc.), restaurants and stalls, small shops, saloons, bakeries, chemicals, waste picking, and transportation. The Executive Director of the Popular Education Campaign, Rasheda K Chowdhury, states that what they are witnessing now is an increase in the number of children who drop out of school and engage in dangerous work as a result of the pandemic in the country, calling on the government to play its role and responsibility to return children to schools according to plans and programs. It is mentioned that poor and hungry children have been offered about 33 percent of domestic help in Dhaka.