Author: Md Alimuzzaman Milon
Milon, Md Alimuzzaman, 2024 Cultural capital and inequality in children’s learning skills in Bangladesh: Evidence from Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), 2019, Flinders University, College of Business, Government and Law
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Achieving foundational learning skills (minimum proficiency in literacy and numeracy) in children’s early years of schooling is crucial for their future academic and professional success. Despite significant progress in school enrolment in recent times, the rate of children achieving grade-level proficiency in literacy and numeracy, an important target of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is still very low in Bangladesh. Additionally, there exists significant inequality in children’s learning skills based on their family’s socioeconomic status (SES). In the field of education, cultural capital has been seen as particularly important element of family’s SES. This study explores the association between cultural capital (measured by level of parental education and indicators of parental involvement in children’s education) and foundational learning skills of children aged between 7 to 14 years in Bangladesh. It conducts bivariate analysis and binary logistic regression to check the association using Bangladesh Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) 2019 data. This study found a significant association between cultural capital and children’s learning skills. Our results showed that children whose mothers are more educated, whose parents participate more in school activities, or whose parents have more educational socialisation are more likely to achieve foundational learning skills. Interestingly though, parents’ involvement in children’s homework does not affect their learning outcomes. However, despite the significant influence of cultural capital, this study also found that family wealth independently remains a strong predictor of children’s learning outcomes in Bangladesh. Children from the wealthiest households are much more likely to achieve basic literacy and numeracy than those from the poorest households. Given these findings, it is recommended that school education policy needs to encourage more parental involvement in school activities and promote parents’ educational socialisation. Besides, targeted interventions are necessary for children from lower economic backgrounds to ensure equal learning opportunities for all.
Keywords: Cultural capital,inequality, children's foundational learning skills, Bangladesh
Subject: Policy and Administration thesis
Thesis type: Masters
Completed: 2024
School: College of Business, Government and Law
Supervisor: Professor Gerry Redmond