Grameen Shikkha: Dhaka Slum School Visit

On Tuesday morning, myself and a group of 5 other Grameen interns had the chance to visit a sister company of Grameen Bank, Grameen Shikkha, which focuses on providing and financing education to many poor children of the urban, rural, and slum areas of Bangladesh. Grameen Shikkha surveys families of the slums and locates the poorest of the poor children and invites these children to attend their schools.  We took a 10 minute cycle rickshaw ride from our Dhaka headquarters to the villages, and then walked about 5 minutes to the school. Let me be clear: WE WERE IN THE HEART OF THE DHAKA SLUMS. There were piles of trash on both sides of the dirt roads, extremely unpleasant odors filled the air profusely, naked children ran around playfully, open sanitation flowed freely in the front doorsteps of many of the homes, and mothers cooked roti in front of their dilapidated, shoddy homes in between the narrow corridors of their slum, with the noise and sight of the sanitation flowing freely just feet from their cooking stoves. It reminded me of many scenes from the Oscar winning movie Slumdog Millionaire, perhaps even worse. Don’t believe me? Come to the Dhaka slums.

The school comprised of one room, approximately 14 feet by 12 feet. We took off our muddy shoes in front of the school and slowly packed the small room. The first classroom was a preschool of about 27 children, between ages five and six. The children, excited to see the faces of so many foreigners (I was with 4 American girls), stood up and greeted us with the standard Muslim greeting, pronounced as-sa-lam-wai-lai-kum. The room was filled with uproar, and the teacher hurriedly attempted to quiet the classroom. There was a power shortage at the time, so the fan was not operating in the small room with over 30 people in it! The children sat in a circle on the floor around the room, as their perspiration from their bodies dripped onto their chalkboards they held in their hand. The students of this school are taught their native tongue of Bangla, English, and basic mathematics. They recited English songs such as Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star. It was amazing to see the genuine happiness on the faces of these children amidst their subsistence and poverty. The slums are their lives; this is all they have seen, and for nearly all of them, this is all they will EVER see. That is, unless, we do something about it. Read on.

Next, we visited another informal slum school, only this was a fourth grade classroom. There were 20 students in this class, and each of them recited their name, where they live, and how old they are in English! Aside from this and the overall passion and energy of the students, there is nothing else impressive to share with you about this school (again, one small room). The students spend a meager three hours a day in school receiving lessons in English, Bangla, social sciences, and mathematics. Three hours of schooling, under no stretch of the imagination is enough. Due to insufficient funding, and many of the students having to go home to help with household chores and family businesses, three hours of schooling a day (for grades 1-5) is all that is available to them. There is no time for them in their hectic lives to learn to properly read, write, dream, and stretch their horizons; they are so preoccupied with merely making it on to the next day. Government intervention is necessary at this juncture,  as they MUST provide all the incentives possible to families to send and keep their children in school. Essentially, make it more worthwhile for families to have children in school than having them help out on the farms or family businesses.  Just 3 hours of school? Many experts in the US education system believe public schools in the US are not rigorous enough (with 6-7 hour school days), so there is no justification for any child to attend school for only three hours a day. Case studies on the Knowledge is Power Program (KIPP) clearly show that more rigorous schooling yields better results. (To learn more about KIPP, please refer to the end of this post)

We surveyed each student in the class, asking them what they wanted to be when they grow up. Few said pilots, many said teachers, and others said businessman, army officers, computer engineers, and doctors. When we asked that question to the students, it almost felt as if we were mocking them. I’m no one to say that somebody can’t accomplish their life goals and aspirations, but in this instance, it’s hard not to refute the plausibility of their ambitious goals of being a doctor or pilot. Given their family situations,  resources and schooling, their goals are next to impossible to achieve.

Programs such as Grameen Shikkha are almost in a way, teasing these children, giving them the false hope that they can go on to be valuable members in a developed world. These are children of slumdwellers. The number of opportunities for these children is limited, if not non-existent. Their fates, unless we make dramatic change, are determined. They are from the slums, they will continue to be from the slums, and their children will be from the slums. HOW LONG CAN WE ACCEPT THIS GRAVE INJUSTICE FOR? HOW LONG?

Based on recent data I received from the Deputy General Manager of Grameen Shikkha, 47% of primary school entrants drop out before 5^th grade. Only 53% of students in Bangladesh make it past 5^th grade, and only half of that group makes it to high school. What’s stopping poor nations, such as Bangladesh (where most of the people are disease free, and eating enough to survive) to invest heavily in educational programs for their constituents and ensuring children enroll in them? Quite obviously, money and resources. Why can’t charitable foundations, rich donor countries, and NGO’s tap the reservoir of endless creativity, curiosity, passion, and intelligence of the world’s poor children? If we can empower these children with a solid education, they themselves will go on to do great things in improving their countries. This cannot be possible when a countries young minds are untapped and when they lack the basic analytical, mathematical, language, and interpersonal skills to be productive.  This investment in human capital of the poor children will provide returns for the duration of these children’s lifetimes and then some. This method is not a quick-fix, rather a long-term solution. An educated population is a population that has the skills and know-how to be self-sufficient and improve their well-being through hard work, innovation, and technology. The returns to charitable investments to build bridges and provide more food (to countries where basic nutritional and medical needs are met) are ephemeral. A bridge may last for 30 years, and a meal may provide nourishment for ten hours. An education provides returns for a lifetime of 70-80 years, and to their off-spring, and their children, and so on.

By addressing the education of our young children, we are building the poor nations from the bottom up. The only question that remains is, when will we come to this realization regarding the value of the children? Can we afford to wait and continue to waste the immeasurable capacities of the poor children until they are ultimately and irreversibly mentally stunted? These poor children deserve better. The kids were truly amazing and they filled the room with excitement, love,  happiness, and energy.  What have they have ever done to deserve such a situation?

I apologize in advance for any lapses in my reasoning. I am not an economist nor am I an expert in educational systems. I’m just passionate about everyone having the opportunity to get an education-it should be a basic human right. As always, I welcome open dialogue in regards to my posts. Please feel free to chime in with your thoughts, comments, and criticism, whatever.

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A little Background on KIPP (I’m clearly a big fan)

*Many US experts in education have attributed the “achievement gap” to factors such the unavailability of books, computers, and educational games in poor households. The lack of these resources is compounded over time and only exacerbated by long summer vacations in the United States. Children from these poor households in the US build a deficit too large to ever make up and are perpetually stuck in poverty during their lifetimes. A great case study that has bucked this trend, is the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP), founded by two former Teach for America graduates in Houston, TX. The crux of the KIPP program (charter schools that operate outside of public school governing) is to offer free, open-enrollment education to poor students in struggling areas in the US. The principles of the program include a rigorous, college preparatory curriculum, with school hours from 7 AM to 5 PM, and half-days on select Saturdays. Summer vacations are shorter, and there is a mandatory summer school that “Kippsters” must attend. This resembles the rigorous nature of schooling in countries such as China and India. These two behemoth economies have developed so much in the last decade, and the reason for this boom is partly due to a immensely skilled and educated labor force. More than 95% of KIPP students are African American or Hispanic, and students are accepted regardless of any behavioral issues, test scores, or socioeconomic status. According to Wikipedia, while only half of the students passed their fourth grade tests before enrolling in KIPP, more than 90% of these same students pass their 5^th grade exams in English and mathematics after only one year at KIPP. Many KIPP schools across the country have received recognition for extraordinarily high achievement among students, and 80% of KIPP alumni have went on to receive college educations! Impressive, to say the least. Sending Bangladeshi slum children to school for 3 hours a day is a DISSERVICE.