Abstract
Drawing from ethnographic research carried out in four villages in Madhupur upazila (sub-district) in rural Bangladesh between 2006 and 2008, this article explores girls’ and boys’ transitions from school to work. My findings are situated in the context of ongoing social and economic change in both rural and urban Bangladesh. They show that the modernising process of education is global in its outreach; yet local socio-economic context shapes its impact. Many of the girls and boys in my sample have had mixed interactions with the formal education system, most starting late and few progressing much past primary school, if at all. Even so, it has still influenced their aspirations and transitions, affecting the institution of childhood more broadly. These changes have brought about intergenerational tensions and contradictions between expectations and experiences in children's transitions that are gendered, aged and classed in their dimensions, with findings that have implications for policymakers.
Abstract
S’appuyant sur une étude ethnographique menée entre 2006 et 2008 dans quatre villages de l’upazila (ou sous district) de Madhupur, une région rurale du Bengladesh, cet article s’intéresse à la transition des filles et garçons de l’école vers le travail. Nos observations se situent dans le contexte d’évolutions sociales et économiques en cours dans les régions rurales et urbaines du Bangladesh. Elles montrent que le processus de modernisation du système d’éducation a une portée globale; pourtant le contexte socio-économique local conditionne son impact. Un grand nombre de filles et garçons de l’échantillon utilisé ont des interactions variées avec le système éducatif; en effet, la plupart des enfants intègrent l’école tardivement et peu, voire aucun, d’entre eux ne poursuivent leur éducation au delà de l’école primaire. Pourtant, leur expérience d’écoliers influence leurs aspirations et transitions, et plus globalement impacte l’institution de l’enfance. Ces évolutions entraînent des tensions intergénérationnelles et des contradictions entre ce qui est attendu de ce processus de transition, et ce qui s’y passe réellement, le processus en question étant fortement influencé par le sexe, l’âge et la classe sociale des enfants concernés. Nous montrons que ceci a des implications en termes de politiques.
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Notes
I call these villages Amripur, Hatipur, Kuripur and Rampara.
Islamic religious school.
As with the villages, the respondents’ names have been changed to protect their identity.
‘Vertical’ transitions involve important developmental changes over the life course (Vogler et al, 2008, pp. 1–2).
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Acknowledgements
I wish to thank the peer reviewers for their constructive comments on an earlier draft. This research was in part funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), whose support I gratefully acknowledge.
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Heissler, K. ‘We Are Poor People So What is the Use of Education?’ Tensions and Contradictions in Girls’ and Boys’ Transitions from School to Work in Rural Bangladesh. Eur J Dev Res 23, 729–744 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1057/ejdr.2011.40
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/ejdr.2011.40