Exclusion and drop out in school participation in Bangladesh: Insights from repeat household surveys

Bangladesh has made substantial progress in primary education in recent decades mainly due to the supply side interventions. Using the nationally representative longitudinal survey of rural households in Bangladesh conducted in three waves in 1988, 2000, and 2008, this paper examines the changing pattern of educational participation of children and socio-economic factors in addition to the school factors in order to better address the issue of dropout and exclusion. The findings show that school participation increased and gender parity was achieved over time and still 6-8% children are left out from schooling mainly from household with disable children, ultra-poor households, and those where both parents are illiterate. The study observes lack of demand for schooling among those socio-economically disadvantaged population groups and turn attention for a targeted approach to include the children who continue to be out of schools. Finally, the study suggests for economic incentives for those population groups and quality improvement in the curriculum so that secondary education becomes more useful to high-school dropouts.