Structural and Socio-Economic Factors Affecting School Retention among Adolescents from Slums in North City Corporation, Dhaka

Abstract

Despite the national policy commitment and alignment with the sustainable development framework in education, academic continuity remains a critical barrier for children living in informal urban settlements. While Bangladesh has made significant progress in improving school retention rates, the situation for adolescents living in Dhaka’s slum is remarkably different. The city’s slum areas, housing a large population of adolescent boys and girls, present challenging socio-economic and structural barriers to education. Although many studies highlight several complex consequences deterring school retention, the combined assessment of structural and socio-economic factors remains unexplored. This research aims to investigate the structural and socio-economic factors influencing school retention among adolescents aged 11 to 18 years across three slums of the Dhaka North City Corporation. This study employs a mixed-method approach, integrating both quantitative surveys and qualitative interviews to gain comprehensive insights from adolescents, parents, teachers, and NGO workers. Key findings highlight that socio-economic factors and family structure play a crucial role in school retention. A high statistical significance (p<0.001) is found between the marital status of parents and their children’s school retention through a chi-square test. Moreover, this study also emphasizes the necessity of standardized school infrastructure, where schools with basic amenities showed higher retention rates. This analysis further underscores the pivotal role of government and NGOs in reducing dropout rates. This study concludes with recommendations for targeted policy interventions, including improving school infrastructure, increasing financial aid programs and strengthening parental involvement in education in slum areas. By addressing these sets of factors, this research contributes to a broader understanding of educational inequalities in urban slums and offers practical interventions to upscale school retention rates for marginalized communities.