BRAC Urban Slums Schools
Bangladeshi children living in urban slums face barriers to accessing and remaining in school that are accentuated by very low family incomes, poor infrastructure and high population density. In order to help augment the family’s income, children in urban slums often dropout of school to work as manual laborers.
With the support of EAC co-funding, the Schools in Urban Slums project expands BRAC’s existing education program by adding a further 2,000 one-room schools to urban slums or areas adjacent to the slums. It strives to enrol an estimated 62,000 out of school children (OOSC) in and around the cities of Dhaka, Sylhet, Chittagona, Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal, Rangpur, Jessore, Mymensingh, Commilla, Gajipur, and Norsingdi.
The project provides funding to cover the full costs of primary school education for all 2,000 schools over four years. An estimated 2,000 teachers are being hired and trained to work in the schools. In addition, more than 10,000 parent committee members are being trained on school monitoring and children’s attendance monitoring in an effort to support both the teaching and learning outcomes in local schools.