Reaching the marginalized: EFA global monitoring report, 2010; 2010

1200CHAPTER 3Education for All Global Monitoring Report‘Do we buyfood or enrolour childin school?’Parent,BangladeshBox 3.8: Slums in Dhaka — marginalization with rapid urban growthDhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, is one of theworld’s fastest-growing cities. An estimated 300,000to 400,000 new migrants arrive each year and thevast majority head for informal settlements. Aroundone-third of the city’s population — 4 million people —live in slums, many of them in flood zones.Education figures for Dhaka’s slums are among theworst in Bangladesh. One study of four slums foundthat just 70% of children were enrolled at the primarylevel, many of them in schools run by non-governmentorganizations.The study also found high inequality within the slums.The children of better-off families, such as those withsmall businesses, were far more likely to be not justin school, but in a government or private school.Children from the poorest households were less likelyto be in school and almost half those enrolled reliedon non-government organizations (Figure 3.26).The parents of these children were predominantlyday labourers and rickshaw drivers.Schools run by non-government organizations playan important function in Dhaka’s slums. Unlike privateschools, they are usually free and offer flexible hoursand classes. Their quality varies, however, and manyoffer only three or four years of basic education, withlimited scope for transition into the formal educationsystem. In some respects non-government educationis a symptom of the vacuum created by limited publiceducation. Only a quarter of Dhaka’s slums havea government school. Most of these schools arein well-established slum areas, while newer, lessformal settlements are left to fend for themselves.Figure 3.26: Poor slum dwellers in Bangladesh dependon non-government education provision% of children aged 6 to 11 enrolled, by type of school and wealth,selected slums of Dhaka, 2008100%80%60%40%20%0%Poorest Middle RichestWealth quintilesNote: Includes only ages 6 to 11 and enrolment in grades 1 to 5.Source: Cameron (2009).Not in schoolMadrasa/otherPrivateNGOGovernmentAs in other slums worldwide, insecure tenurecontributes to marginalization in education. Lackingtenancy rights, slum dwellers are in a weak positionto demand education and public finance. Moreover,as many city authorities periodically bulldoze informalsettlements, some non-government providers areloath to invest in school buildings.Sources: Cameron (2009); World Bank (2007a); Centre for UrbanStudies et al. (2006).Residency requirements were another majorbarrier, as migrants from other states make upa large share of the slum-dwelling population.Rural migrants to urban areas in China facesimilar problems, with the hukou (householdregistration) system restricting access to basiceducation (Box 3.9).Many governments lack credible public policiesfor providing education and other basic servicesin fast-growing informal settlements. Authoritiesoften claim that legal entitlement to educationand other services in all slums would act asincentives for accelerated rural-urban migration.While this concern is not without foundation,depriving children of their right to an educationthrough government inaction is not anappropriate response.Remote rural areas are underservedRural children face heightened risks ofmarginalization in education, especially if they arepoor and female. Rural-urban divides in educationoften overlap with wider inequalities. In manycountries, rural areas tend to have higherconcentrations of poverty and less access tohealth care. Marginalization in education bothmirrors and magnifies these disparities.Low population density in rural areas oftenmeans children have to travel greater distancesto school, sometimes across difficult terrain. Inaddition, rural parents tend to be less educated.These concerns are compounded by governmentfailure to provide schools or attract good teachersto the countryside. Traditional cultural practicesand attitudes also play a role.176