Peer-reviewed article
Parental aspirations for children’s early childhood education enrolment in Bangladesh
Md Jahangir Alam, Keiichi Ogawa ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examines why parents in Bangladesh choose to enrol or not enrol their children in early childhood education (ECE) programmes for ages 3-5. Researchers conducted interviews and focus group discussions with parents to understand their motivations. The findings show that parental aspirations, family finances, desire for social status, and beliefs about school quality are the main factors influencing ECE enrolment decisions. The study argues that these factors create unequal access to early education and calls for policy changes to ensure all children have equal opportunities.
Key points
- Parental aspirations, anxieties, and socio-economic conditions significantly affect children's enrollment in ECE schools
- A child's probability of ECE enrolment is heavily influenced by the socio-economic position of parents, social recognition, quality of service, and school reputation
- Disparities in parental aspirations impede social justice in education for all children
- Government has not provided enough access, enrollment, and quality early childhood education in Bangladesh
- Stakeholders should take policy initiatives to ensure equal enrolment opportunities for children aged 3-5
Limitations
This qualitative study describes parental aspirations but does not measure the actual impact of these aspirations on child development outcomes. The findings reflect the perspectives of interviewed parents and may not represent all communities or socio-economic groups in Bangladesh.
Abstract
Early childhood education (ECE) contributes to all young children’s cognitive and non-cognitive development. Most developed countries invest in early childhood education to boost human capital development. In countries such as Bangladesh which are impoverished and underdeveloped, the government has not provided enough access, enrollment, and quality early childhood education. Consequently, parents motivate early childhood education, whose financial circumstances alter to enroll children in school. This study examines the parental aspiration that encourages and motivates them to enroll their children in ECE schools. FGDs and KIIs were conducted with the individual respondents using a qualitative case study method. The findings indicate that parental aspirations, anxieties, and socio-economic conditions significantly affect children’s enrollment in ECE schools. The probability that a child will be enrolled in an ECE school is heavily influenced by the socio-economic position of parents, social recognition, quality of service, and the school’s reputation. This study argued that parental aspiration for children’s enrollment and non-enrollment in ECE impede social justice in education for all children. Finally, all the stakeholders should take innovative policy initiatives to ensure institutional justice and equal enrollment opportunities for children aged 3-5.