Exclusion of indigenous children from primary education in the Rajshahi Division of northwestern Bangladesh

Although education provision has recently improved in Bangladesh, the exclusion of children in the poorest families remains a pressing issue. Surveys in Bangladesh about school attendance have to date been confined to the dominant ethnic groups. Data are lacking for ethnic minorities such as indigenous children. To address this issue, we surveyed indigenous children's primary school attendance and dropout rates in northwestern Bangladesh during 2004. The results revealed that few indigenous children (22%) completed a year of primary education, and an additional 18% attended some school but dropped out. It is likely that a large percentage of indigenous children never experience or complete primary education, and they probably do not attain even basic literacy skills. Focus groups with educational professionals revealed that poverty, child labour, and other factors such as ignorance toward education, language problems, cultural alienation, and parents' seasonal migration account for the low rates of school attendance. Urgent action is needed to reverse the exclusion of indigenous children from primary education in northwestern Bangladesh.