Presidency University

Semester: Fall 2020

Subject: Advance Reading and Composition
Topics: Research Article

Submitted By
Name: Tanzuma Akter
ID: 201-383-025

Submitted To
Name: Mohammad Saeid Ahmed
M H School of Business

Presidency University
Submission Date: 23-12-2020
 Title: “Educational Condition of the Street Children in Dhaka City”

INTRODUCTION:

The children who live in the street are called street children/urchin. They have to live under the
open sky. They pass their nights on the footpaths, railway stations, bus stands and launch ghats.
They move from one place to another place around the city in search of livelihood. They earn their
livelihood by working hard. They have to carry loads, break bricks, sale flowers. They are treated
harshly. Most of them are forsaken by their parents. They are deprived of parental affection, care,
and security. They are also deprived of education, healthcare and nutrition etc. In fact, they are a
burden of the society and of the government. Therefore, it is our duty to rehabilitate them. We can
rehabilitate them by collecting and sheltering them into vagrant houses or orphanages, by giving
them vocational training and elementary education, by giving them small loans and by managing
them self-employment. In this research I have attempted to understand the overall educational
condition of the street children involving socio-economic condition, accessibilities and
opportunities of education in street level, challenges and perception of the children about
educational impact on their life. In the research, the aged target of the street children was ranged
9-16 years. It has found from the table that about half of the boys’ raged between 12-14 years and
more than two third of the girls’ ranged between 15-17 years. In the considering of the total sample,
highest number of the street children’s age range is 12 and 14 years.

1.1. Rights of Education for All Children

Constitution of Bangladesh has ensured the rights of the education for all children living
in Bangladesh and also other international agencies and conventional highlighted the rights
of education for global children. UN bodies i.e UNICEF, ILO, UNESCO work to provide
education for all children in the world.

UNESCO in perspective – ‘Education for All’: The Dakar Framework of Action in the
World Education Forum (April 2000) called for international commitment to respond to
the rapid increase of children and youth at risk in the areas of early childhood care; access
for all children (especially girls, children with special needs and marginalized youth) to
primary education; learning needs and skills development; prevention of gender disparities
in primary and secondary education; quality and measurable education.

1.2. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

The present study aims to investigate the educational condition of the street children in
Dhaka city.

1. 3. OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

For the study, the following objectives have been taken which are

1. To find out the causes of drop-out of the children living in street.

2. To explore the present educational opportunity and challenges of the street children in
DhakaCity.
3. To provide some recommendation for improving the educational condition of the street
children.

1. 4. SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH

The present study have been covered the street children living at Farmgate and
Gulistan in Dhaka city.

1.5. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

1. 5.1. Sample

A total 43 street children 5 NGO project personnel of different level have directly
participated in the study. Children have drawn from the two thana of Dhaka city which are
Farmgate and Gulistan and NGO personnel have selected from the two NGOs in Dhaka
city that are working for street children especially in education.
1. 5.2. Sample Selection

In the study, sampled was selected through non-probability sampling procedures.

Especially the accidental sampling procedure was followed because of the mobility and
accessibility of the street children

1. 5.3. Source of Data

Method of data collection for study was based on both primary and secondary. For the
primary data, the researcher has used various data collection tools including qualitative and
quantitative method. In the study, secondary information was gathered from the
publication, research findings, books, internet and so on.

1. 6. OPERATIONAL DEFINITION

Educational condition: Educational condition means the opportunities and threats of the
educational program for the street children. The children living in street are considered as
street children. The children have parents but their parents also live in street and the
children have no parental guidance in the street level. Basically they live in drop-in-center
or shelter home running by NGOs.

1. 7. REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Origins of street children

Street children are minors who live and survive on the streets. They often grow up in public
landfills, train stations, our under the bridges of the world’s major cities. Because of
conflicts with their family, these children don’t want to or can’t return home. The
phenomenon of street children is multifaceted. The combination of familial, economic,
social, and political factors play an important role in their situation. It is therefore very
difficult to single out one or more causes. However, children who have been questioned
say that family, poverty, abuse, war, etc. are often why they left for the streets. Street
children can have complex circumstances and are very vulnerable to exploitation and
violence. It’s hard to reach them with vital services such as education and healthcare. They
miss out on their right to education because they are trying to support themselves or their
families, so less formal approaches might be needed to try to get them into learning.

Street child are involved in the following work:

• Street sex workers

• Occasional workers at hotels, restaurants etc
• Transport labours
• Coolies
• Workers in informal sectors
• Rickshaw Pullers/ Van-driver etc
• Tokai
• Hawkers and others

The Government, NGOs and donor agencies have been concerned over the rapid growth of the
child workers and they are looking to find ways and means to gradually and progressively
eliminate child labor in Bangladesh.

1. 8. LIMITATIONS

Every research must have some limitations that might have influenced the outcome. This
study also has faced some limitations which were as follows:

1. As a research, I think time constraints might causes of insufficient information.

2. It has found by observation that street children some times hide the right information and
they have shown hesitation to deliver proper information.
3. The interaction with the street children is also a binding to collect data. As a researcher I
think they have difficulties to believe the researcher and they are very much habituation to
 talk about their life and life experience rather than to provide information about educational
condition.
4. As a researcher, I faced difficulty to identity the actual age of the street children because
they said so confusion information about the time or age.

2. FINDINGS OF THE RESEARCH PAPER

In the study, the researcher have attempted to understand the overall educational condition
of the street children involving socio-economic condition, accessibilities and opportunities
of education in street level, challenges and perception of the children about educational
impact on their life.

2.1. SOCIOECONOMIC BACKGROUND OF THE STREET CHILDREN

To identify the socioeconomic background of the street children, the age, present working
condition, income, source of income, staying condition at night, prenatal alive, profession
and educational level have been considered in the present study.

Age of the street children: In the research, the aged target of the street children was
ranged 9-16 years. It has found from the table that about half of the boys’ raged between
12-14 years and more than two third of the girls’ ranged between 15-17 years. In the
considering of the total sample, highest number of the street children’s age range is 12 and
14 years.

Table-1: Percentage of age limits of the street children

 Age Limits Boy children Girl Children Total(N=43)
(N=34) (N=9)

9-11 23.52 11.11 20.93

12-14 50.0 22.22 44.18

15-17 26.48 66.67 30.23

Total 100 100 100

Present working condition of the street children: The finding of the study suggested that
highest street boys (29.41%) acted as Coolis in the railway or bus station to survive
and more than one fourth of the street boys (26.47%) have maintained their life to collect
wastage called as ‘Tokai’. The children collected wastage paper and other wastage from
the street and sold. It is another distinguished figure out that a significant number of the
street children worked as ‘Newspaper Howker’ in the morning in city. On the other hand
girl street children earned money to sell flower, collected wastage called ‘Tokai’ and
sexually exploitation in the street level.

Educational qualification of parents: Most of the children have reported that they did
not know the educational qualification of their parents. Only very few children have
recognized the educational qualification of their parents. Among them SSC was the highest
educational qualification of the children.

2.2. CAUSES OF THE BEING STREET CHILDREN

Dhaka city has been experiencing influx immigrant’s form the rural areas of Bangladesh,
where unemployment, river erosion and social degradation have become chronic problems.
As a consequence of the influx slum dwelling population has been increasing rapidly. The
slum children are second generation of street children. The children also migrants to Dhaka
from various part of the country to work because the poverty, rivers erosion which could
be said as push factors and other side is the demands of the child labour and work force,
high standard living status that could be considered as pull factor.

2.3. SCHOOL DROP-OUT: A WAY OF TURNING OUT A STREET CHILDREN

With discussion of street children it has found that most of the children reported that they
had to dropt out because they are poor and their parents were unable to afford the cost of
education. Another point is also come from children that they would adjust with the
schooling system. Even they would less enjoy their class in their early life.

It has also noticed form the discussion that very few did not go school and a reason for that
is a large number of children reported that they were missing and they have no
opportunities to go school when they have aged to go to school.

2.5. CHALLENGES REGARDING EDUCATION FOR STREET CHILDREN

It has recognized that there are a lot of challenges regarding education for street children
and in the study aimed to explore that challenges. Most of the children have reported the
following statements:

• They feel very weak when they attend to read in school

• For abusive and exploitative condition of street, children have to move one place another
place so they could not follow the schedule of school every day.
• Most of the day they could not recognized the previous day’s activities
• Inadequate schools for the children so that they could not access to attend for limited sits
of that schools.

2.8. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

CONCLUSION

The problem of street children is dependent on their situation and not on their status. In
fact, each child has a personal history with the street that cannot be generalized. Because
of this, the care of street children must, to be effective, hinge on the different situations on
the streets, in other words, on the many “child profiles”. It is important to analyses the
relationship a child has with the street.

In order to better understand children living and growing up on the streets, it is essential
both to make them participate, and to put them in contact with key institutions or
individuals looking to understand the structural causes of their situation.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Street children problem in Bangladesh are social phenomena which also be given importance to
enhance social and economic justice and equity. Education is the rights of all children in regarding
sex, ethnicity, race, socioeconomic status, minority, disadvantage, disability etc. For ensuring the
rights of education of the street children, the attempts taken by the government are so far
beyond. Education should be ensured to the street children by considering the socioeconomic
status, providing safe night, fulfilling basic needs, protection form physical, mental and sexual
abuse and exploitation. The accessibility of education for the children would be integral part of the
society through creating opportunities to enter mainstreaming educational system in
Bangladesh. The findings of the study would help to policy maker, educationist, and NGOs to
plan and implement the educational system for the street children in Bangladesh. Above discussion
and analysis of the results, it could be recommended some suggestions for future direction about
the education accessibility for the street children those are part of our society. Children are very
much interested to enjoyment and games and sports also. For the street children, recreational
facilities have to be parted for education. Educational program for the street children have been
implemented by the government primary school where the street children operate frequently
through providing the safe night shelter.