8.6 mln children not attending schools in Bangladesh

Around 8.6 million children are not attending schools in Bangladesh and many of them have to start working at an early age, private news agency UNB reported Thursday.The figure was revealed at a national seminar on child labor held here on Thursday observing the World Day Against Child Labor.

This year's theme for the day is: Education: The Right Response to Child Labor. International Labor Organization (ILO), the UNICEF and UNESCO jointly organized the seminar in collaboration with Ministries of Labor and Employment and Primary and Mass Education of Bangladesh.

Experts at the seminar said the lifetime earning ability of children is reduced by 13-20 percent as they enter into the workforce at a young age.

Dr Mahfuzul Haques, secretary of Bangladesh's Labor and Employment Ministry, told the seminar that the government has already prepared the final draft of National Policy for Elimination Child Labor, aiming to reduce the number of child laborers from different economic sectors.

Nabendra Dahal of UNICEF said only 2.5 percent of GDP is invested in education in Bangladesh, which needs to be enhanced significantly to create an impact, particularly on child labor.

Another survey conducted by ILO in 2003 showed some 1.3 million child workers, out of 7.4 million, at the age of 5-17 in Bangladesh are involved in various hazardous works.