Education in Slums – Opportunities Amidst Challenges
Sometimes schooling is the way out of poverty, but schooling in the slums poses great challenges in.
However, there are still impressive examples of what may be done which demonstrate that significant change is both possible and necessary.
As part of exploration of education in slums, this blog focuses on the challenges, the ongoing processes, and possible opportunities in different slum environments.
Difficulties Encountered In the Education in Slums
Perhaps one of the biggest issues in slum areas is definitely the absence of proper structures.
The schools are most of the time crowded Chinned with poor infrastructural facilities which in some may only have a make shift classroom.
There is a shortage of properly shaped sitting which is uncomfortable also there is a shortage of several teaching aids and erratic power supply makes teaching challenging.
Also, qualified teachers are not willing to provide education in slums as they are lowly paid, work in insecure environments and their workplace is not friendly to any employee.
Another factor consists of economic instability experienced in the slum areas.
Some families live below their poverty level and, therefore, they have no choice but to struggle for basic income for their families than to take children to school.
This makes the dropout rate high since children are forced to work, to help in providing for the household needs.
Education becomes a victim in a cycle of poverty and one fails to see how the cycle will not continuously repeat itself.
Crime, violence and substance abuse are rife in most slums and this puts a lot of children in a highly risky and un-safe environment to attend school routinely.
For instance experience challenges including insecurity, early marriages and gender biased, which hinder education in slums.
Innovative Solutions and Grassroots Initiatives for Education In Slums
However, many of the slum communities have recorded success through other initiatives which have been home grown meant to enhance access to education in slums.
The civil society comprises non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and representative and social groups that offer informal schools and learning points.
Sometimes such organizations have to employ unorthodox steps in efforts to counter those restrictions presented by the environment.
For instance in Kibera slum, Nairobi, mobile classes were established as efforts to attend to all those who cannot attend conventional classes.
In Dharavi, Mumbai, examples of good practice have involved the communities themselves designing affordable solutions that are structured flexibly around children’s working and learning times.
Digital education has also been embraced with organizations offering tablet and internet in partnership with technology firms.
These digital tools are useful in narrowing this gap, ensuring that children in slum schools have access to similar kinds of resources that better off children have.
Government and private sectors are also starting to also emerge as another important resource.
Today the government join hands with NGO’s to improve the facilities, educate the trainers for enhancing education systems and support and fund scholarship programs.
These partnerships enable formation of symbiotic support structures that also ensure child’s progress on academic arenas to pull through in slum environments.
The Power of Community and Parental Engagement
Another importance area in pushing forward education in slum areas is involving communities and parents.
The parents in slums know that education is fundamental but sometimes maybe they don’t have the necessary resources, or they do not know how the system of education works.
Programs that aim to include parents increase parental involvement in children’s schooling as a way of reducing or closing such gaps.
Educational activities including workshops and seminar have been done with the aim of training parents on the importance of schooling and how they can promote success of their children in school.
Volunteerism with members of the community and having them take an active role in the running of community schools help in establishment of ownership.
Such an engagement can ensure that program developers are held to account over the sustainability of education programs.
For example, in Makoko slum of Lagos, Nigeria, social projects have invented schools social centers where children are trained in safer environments.
Opportunities and the Path Forward
Although the problems are numerous, education in slums may well be described as one of hope, of unfulfilled promise.
Most of these children despite the odds stacked against them perform tremendously well in class to end up as role models to other children.
Scholarship and mentoring programs have been effective in enabling these bright students to transfer from their environment to universities and technical institutes.
Technology continues to light the way for education, such as delivering instruction content in a relevant to student and remotely accessible manner.
This is a chance, while more and more low-cost technologies appear, in order to provide education in slums and get to the level of the slums that are deprived of the most basic facilities.
Teacher training that should focus on a range of concerns typical for slum environments is yet another area that will improve the education quality.
Knowledgeable instructors who are aware of diverse students’ needs, especially on social and economic issues, will be better placed to enhance a better learning climate for the learners.
Conclusion
Education in slums for children can be considered as a challenging area for learning as well as an exciting and promising sector.
It means that overcoming the barriers should be based on the community participation, P3, and ICT.
Using these elements, it is possible to bring a positive shifts and provide children in slum areas with a key to escape poverty and embrace a future full of opportunities.
Also read: Singapore Slums & Renewal – An Intriguing Case Study