Exploring Barriers to Education in Urban Slums: A Study of Enrolment Dynamics in Lahore's Informal Settlements
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70670/sra.v4i1.1990Keywords:
School Enrolment, Urban Slums, Gender Disparity, Probit Model, Lahore, Informal Settlements, Access to Education, Poverty, Pakistan.Abstract
The article examines the socio-economic determinants of enrolment of children in formal education in the informal settlements in Lahore in terms of gender differences. It explores how poverty, family structure and institutional constraints affect access to education in a world where basic education is supposedly free. The research utilizes primary survey data of 384 families in 45 slum settlements, and focuses on the children aged between 4 and 18. Probit model is used to estimate the probability of school enrolment including household and slum variables. There are also major disparities in enrolment between males and females, with females being the most impacted. The determinants of enrolment are household income, parental education and occupation of the mother. Obstacles to education such as irregular residency and institutional discrimination are slum-specific. The findings underscore the importance of specific urban education policies that respond to poverty, bureaucracy and gender inequalities in slums. The paper will be a valuable addition to existing literature on urban informality and educational inequality in South Asia and will provide evidence-based suggestions on how the educational development agenda can be implemented in Pakistan.
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