Insights on Education Among the Urban Poor A case Study of Bhopal

In the present world structure, the universalization of elementary education has influenced and guided most of us working in the fields of development and education. The concept of ‘formal education’ has become so ingrained in society that the non-fulfilment of this right amounts to a violation. But what does this education offer to the working class people who have become subsumed by it, even though they may not have experienced schooling directly?

This study was undertaken across a sample of 19 bastis in Bhopal city to understand the status of formal education among the urban poor. Enriched with voices of children and parents, this report fills in the gap between qualitative and quantitative information on perceptions and experiences of schooling.