Going to school from a relocated urban community: struggling for education within imposed walls

During the past few decades, relocation of shanty communities has become a developmental concern across the developing countries. After 30 years of internal conflict, Sri Lanka is currently undergoing rapid infrastructural changes particularly in Colombo. Relocating several shanty communities has been an inevitable consequence. ‘Free education’ policy of Sri Lanka advocates education free of charge for students in all government schools and universities. However, low-income communities face several problems in making the best out of this policy. Relocated children face similar and additional problems as a result of being ‘relocated’. The study which is part of a larger longitudinal study explores these issues based on information gathered through in-depth interviews from 17 relocated households (supplemented with survey data from the longitudinal study). Several problems that negatively affect children’s education were identified. This raises the question of whether relocated children’s ability to make the best out of free education have really improved as a result of receiving more ‘permanent’ housing from the Government. A ‘permanent’ house is undoubtedly a promising initiative towards improving socio-educational opportunities available for these children. However, the study stresses the need for other forms of intervention to support these children gain full advantage of these houses.