Explaining Rural-Urban Differences in The Academic Achievement of Secondary Students: An Empirical Study in Magura District of Bangladesh

All the successive governments of Bangladesh – both civil or military – invested a considerable amount of national fortune in ensuring quality education for all, irrespective of caste or creed. Subsequently, Bangladesh has experienced significant growth in schools, colleges and universities in enrolment and completion rate of education with greater gender parity. However, the success stories were overshadowed by the persistent discrepancies, especially for spatial locations and social classes. This study, therefore, aimed at comparing the academic achievement of rural and urban students, and finding out the factors drawing differences in educational performances of the educands. Data were collected from 566 students selected from eight educational institutions following multistage proportionate random sampling administering a self-administered questionnaire. Findings suggest that age, sex, grades and track of education followed by the size of the class and student-teacher ratio played decisive roles for the educational disparities between the urbanites and ruralites. However, the most crucial factors were parental education and income and the family’s overall financial capacity for supplementary education. Based on the results, it is strongly suggested that the government should involve all the stakeholders, including parents, students, and teachers, to formulate future education policies and address the socioeconomic composition of schools. Additionally, the administration also needs to provide adequate resources, including trained teachers and sufficient infrastructural and other academic facilities, to improve overall educational and learning environments to achieve all-inclusive quality education for all.