Access, attendance and performance in urban K8 education during pre- and post-COVID-19 restrictions in Bangladesh: comparison of students in slums, tin-sheds and flats

ABSTRACT

‘It is dark under the lamp'-a proverb that frequently refers to the misery that prevails in confined, lit environments. In terms of economic development, urban regions have risen to prominence as centers of excellence. Cities are populated by individuals from varied cultural, professional, and economic backgrounds. The disparities in their economic conditions have resulted in several groupings of people who are vastly distinct from their rural counterparts. Comparing urban and rural locations, studies frequently conclude that urban education is significantly superior. This study employs ‘descriptive analysis’ of both secondary and primary data to conclude that students living in urban slums suffer in three K-8 (universal) education characteristics (access, attendance, and academic performance). The government's disregard for students living in slums allowed NGOs to intervene. Students living in shacks are educated mostly through government initiatives in Bangladesh, but those living in apartments attend private, international, and elite-public schools. Students residing in tin huts cannot compete with those residing in apartments, much less slums. This situation has been further compounded by the Covid-19 outbreak. A substantial policy intervention by the Bangladeshi government may be the only possible method to protect the urban K-8 (universal) education of developing nations from criticism.

KEYWORDS:

• K-8 education
• education and homogeneity
• Covid-19
• socioeconomic status
• access
• attendance and performance in education

Acknowledgements

We are greatly indebted to a number of teams in charge of the Underprivileged Children's Educational Programs (UCEP-Bangladesh). They provided extensive support to us in the data collection process. Our thanks also go to the ACSE-Dubai for funding this project.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 Slum, tin-shed and flat.

2 Access, attendance and academic performance.

3 Access, attendance, and academic performance.

4 Referred to here as the underprivileged group.

5 That is, public school, semi-public school, NGO school, private school, and international school.

6 These are slums, tin-sheds and flats.

7 Private and international schools and some elite public schools have offered education via online during the nationwide Covid-19 restrictions.

8 Public school, semi-public, NGO school, private school, religious group school and international school.

9 Slums, tin-sheds and flats.

10 Public school, semi-public, NGO school, private school, religious group supported and international school.

11 These schools have both primary and secondary school grades.

12 15459 students are enrolled from grades 1 to 8.

13 Public school, semi-public, NGO school, private school, religious group supported and international school.

14 Public school, semi-public, NGO school, private school, religious group supported and international school.

15 In which the primary schooling rate is 98%.

16 In public and semi-public schools.

17 Moreover, admittance to some schools can be done through bribery.

18 Some families left Dhaka during Covid-19 because they had lost their jobs. Some students especially girls from junior secondary school got married during the Covid-19 restrictions and there is only a very slim chance that they would return.

19 Upon their return or when normal life would start, many poor students either have to stop their education or need to go the already crowded religious schools. Religious school do not usually reject admitting students even if they do not have the resources to teach them.

20 Dependence in education would mean that a country stands on its own two feet.

 

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by The ACSE [grant number ACE-BGD-54].