National Legislation and Policies Against Child Labour
in Bangladesh
Legislation
Existing legislation is antiquated and fragmented and deals only with children working in the formal sector.
There is no single code or law dealing with this area. Cooperation between the Ministry of Labour and
Employment and the ILO's International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) will include
a review of existing child labour laws with a view to removing anomalies, fixing a uniform minimum age
for admission to work at 14 years (18 years for hazardous occupations), and prohibiting the employment
of children in hazardous operations in shops and other establishments.
Minimum age for admission to employment in the formal sector
There are a number of statutes, which stipulate the minimum age at which children
can legally work in certain sectors. These are:
(a) Mines (Mines Act 1923) - 15 years (with medical certificate
of fitness);
(b) Shops and other commercial establishments (Shops and Establishments
Act, 1965): 12 years;
(c) Factories (Factories Act, 1965): 14 years (with medical certificate
of fitness);
(d) Railways and ports (Employment of Children Act, 1938): 15 years;
(e) Workshops where hazardous work is performed (Employment of Children
Act, 1938): 12 years;
(f) Tea gardens (Tea Plantation Labour Ordinance, 1962): 15 years.
Regulation of hours and conditions of employment
Broadly speaking, the existing legislation requires that non-prohibited work by children in factories, on
the railways, in ports, shops, commercial and industrial establishments, and mines take place between
the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. The Factories Act additionally imposes a limit of five hours' work per
day for children and prohibits work in more than one factory on a given day.
Hazardous work
The Employment of Children Act, 1938, prohibits children under
12 years from working in workshops where any of a number of listed
processes is carried on. Though not explicitly described as such,
these processes are all hazardous. They include weaving, tanning
and the manufacture of bidis, soap, carpets, matches, explosives
and fireworks. However, an important exemption to this prohibition
is made in the case of family owned and family run workshops not
using outside hired labour. The Factories Act, 1965, prevents
children under 18 years of age from working on dangerous machines
without proper instruction on the dangers, and necessary precautions,
in addition to training or supervision. All forms of forced labour
are prohibited under the Constitution. Unlawful compulsory labour
is also an offence under the Penal Code 1860.
Bangladesh is a signatory to the:
- ILO Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention (No. 182);
- ILO Forced Labour Convention (No. 29);
- ILO Abolition of Forced Labour Convention (No. 105);
- UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
Government policies and programmes
The situation regarding child labour in Bangladesh had been fairly understood during the 1990s by both
the Government and civil society as more research studies were done and disseminated; most
importantly, several initiatives to combat the problem were taken by the Government of Bangladesh. In
1990, Bangladesh became one of the signatories to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and
the ensuing Summit Declaration and Plan of Action. In 1990, Bangladesh passed the Primary Education
Act and, in 1993, it established the compulsory primary education system for children aged 6 years and
above. In collaboration with the World Food Program (WFP), the Government started the Food for
Education programme in 1993 with an aim to attract poor children and their families towards primary
education. With the setting-up of the Primary and Mass Education Division in 1992 and the Directorate
of Non-Formal Education in 1996, the Government introduced another remedy to tackle the high dropout
and low attendance rates in the formal school system. This trend provided a sustainable solution
to the primary education problem and made a substantial impact on solving the child labour issue.
In March 2001, the Government of Bangladesh ratified the ILO Convention No. 182 and, in December
2001, the Ministry of Labour and Employment took the initiative to begin developing a national policy
on child labour that would constitute a policy foundation for the IPEC Time-Bound Programme (TBP)
and contribute to the implementation of Bangladesh's obligations under the ILO Convention No. 182.
A draft policy developed in consultation with national stakeholders is being examined by the Ministry.
On a more practical level, the Ministry of Labour and Employment is currently implementing a USAID
funded project titled and aimed at Eradication of Hazardous Child Labour in Bangladesh. Interventions
under this "demonstration" project, which covers areas in Dhaka and Chittagong Municipal Corporations,
include non-formal education and skills training for working children and micro credit support for their
guardians/parents.
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