The unexplored realities of the students of urban slum during and after COVID-19: impacts, challenges and resolutions

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a global crisis that affected every facet of daily life, including education. The most profound challenges faced by students specifically slum students during the pandemic were often overlooked. Therefore, the study explored the slum-dwelling students in and after the pandemic to unveil the unidentified stories, experiences, and challenges of these poor and marginalized students alienated from mainstream students. A qualitative multiple case study was adopted through semi-structured interviews to identify their experiences and harsh realities during the pandemic. This research was conducted among twenty-five high school urban slum students in a tuition-free underprivileged school. The study's major findings through the qualitative thematic analysis of the interview transcripts show that many of the students left Dhaka for their ancestral home due to the economic crisis, the closure of all forms of classes, the inability to have technological devices, and the want of helpful personnel in their studies. Their challenges were psychological, physical, social, civic, and technological illiteracy. This piece of work fills the gap in exploring the realities of slum-dwelling students in and after the pandemic, seeking the probable steps they took to continue their studies, and providing some recommendations for the state and society to work out. The study also invites advanced research to discover the complexities and constraints of the slum students, particularly related to education.