ABSTRACT:-This research is an effort to explore the barriers to basic education of Bangladeshi urban slum children and to find out the ways to overcome the barriers. About one-third of Dhaka’s 20 million residents live in slums and 40% of them are children. Dropout, nonenrolment and irregular attendance are common phenomena in slums. The slum children of Dhaka city have been chosen for this study. 203 respondents were selected for this mixed-method study. The basic educational deprivation was originated from socio-economic causes. Only 43% children were continuing their education. On the other hand, dropout and nonenrolment were 40% and 17% respectively. Poverty was found the main cause of the slum children’s basic educational deprivation. Household related causes were mainlyresponsible for non-enrollment and dropout. Dropout and non-enrollment rates were greater for children with illiterate parents. Above 82% of the families lived in single-room houses. Average monthly family income was TK8,000 ($75) to TK22,000 ($200) which was very low for the fundamental family needs including slum children’s educational cost. Ways to overcome the slum children’s basic educational barriers were found from four levels like the household environment, the slum environment, the school environment and governmental steps. Finally, this problem cannot be solved overnight, rather it needs time.

Key Words: Basic education, slum children, barriers to basic education, dropout, non-enrollment.