Youth in Bangladesh

Although Bangladesh has an increasingly stable and growing economy, half of these children continue to live below the international poverty line.

High drop-out rates and poor quality teaching and learning are serious problems for primary schools.

Students regularly fail to meet required curriculum competencies, so repetition rates are high.

Primary schools which do not have enough space to accommodate all local children resort to a ‘double shift’, which effectively halves the time an individual spends in the classroom.

They face a miserable life, trapped in a vicious cycle of poverty, deprived of the basic necessities, and with bleak prospects, some turn to crime.

The chances of sexual exploitation are high among these children with no safe places to go, no family support and an inability to protect themselves.

With almost no education and no access to healthcare, they are at high risk for infectious diseases, asthma and lead poisoning.

[7] Child labour in Bangladesh is common, with 4.7 million or 12.6% of children aged 5 to 14 in the work force.

[9] In 2006, Bangladesh passed a Labour Law setting the minimum legal age for employment as 14.