In Bangladesh, it is illegal for children under 14 to work. Despite this, an estimated 4.8 million children are employed full time, many doing hazardous work. Unfortunately, families living in poverty depend on their children going to work to enable them to survive financially.
Pial, a young boy aged 14, works at his father’s tea stall in Beanibazar, Sylhet. His father has a heart condition which means he cannot do any work involved in heavy lifting work and when his condition worsened, Pial was forced to leave school and start working in hazardous labour in order to support the family.
Luckily, Pial joined the UKBET centre for working children early in 2020 and has been given the opportunity to continue developing his literacy and numeracy skills as well as important life skills, alongside his work.
During the COVID-19 pandemic the family tea stall was shut down and Pial’s family faced further difficulties. We were able to help by providing food to the family but Pial’s father struggled to pay rent of the tea stall and their home and cover basic everyday costs. Soon, his father felt like he had no choice but to send Pial’s sisters into work as domestic workers in people’s homes, forcing them out of education.
As Pial remained connected to UKBET we were able to provide further support to the family to help restart their business with a grant of just BDT 5,000 (approx £48, $62). Now, the tea stall has reopened and their modest income will enable the family to meet their everyday needs and, crucially, Pial’s sisters can continue with their education at school.
Thanks to teachers and field organisers like Raju from UKBET’s Beanibazar centre, UKBET has been able to maintain close contact with the working children and their families who are part of our projects throughout this pandemic.
If you would like to support us by donating or by fundraising for us please do get in touch with us at info@ukbet-bd.org.