38,008 children work in 5 hazardous sectors, 97.5 pc boys: Survey
Staff Correspondent
Children numbering 38,008 aged 5 to 17 are working in five hazardous sectors, with boys comprising 97.5 percent of this workforce.
Most of these children are employed in automobile workshops, according to a Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) survey.
The Child Labour Survey 2023, published by the BBS, was revealed on Thursday.
The BBS, in collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO), conducted the survey, focusing on sectors identified as at risk by the government.
Out of the total child labourers surveyed, the majority work in the automobile sector, with 35.7 percent residing in rural areas and 64.3 percent in urban areas.
The survey also highlighted the types of hazardous work undertaken by child labourers, emphasising heavy loads, pulling goods, and working at heights.
The total number of child labourers in these five sectors are 898 in dried fish production, 5,281 in leather footwear manufacturing, 4,099 in welding or gas burner mechanics, 24,923 in automobile workshops and 2,805 in informal and local tailoring or clothing sector respectively.
