Poverty is prevalent among the urban poor, significantly impacting their ability to access quality education. While public schools may be free, other costs such as transportation, school supplies, uniforms, and daily meals can still be a challenge for families. For many of these families, expenses are overwhelming, leading to children dropping out or attending school irregularly.

Moreover, children from impoverished urban families often engage in informal labor to supplement household income, which takes precedence over schooling.  This perpetuates the cycle of poverty.

The quality of education in urban public schools can be inconsistent. Teachers often face heavy workloads due to large class sizes and insufficient support.  This, then, leads to teacher burnout and high turnover rates, which disrupts the consistency and quality of education.

Also, professional development opportunities for teachers are limited, affecting their ability to adopt new teaching methods and improve their skills. The lack of investment in teacher training exacerbates the educational gap between students in affluent areas and those in underprivileged urban neighborhoods.

The digital divide is a reality for the urban poor. While urban areas generally have better internet infrastructure, access to technology remains uneven. Many underprivileged students lack personal computers, reliable internet connections, and other digital tools necessary for modern learning. Even students majoring in information technology or computer science fall behind in their course studies due to the lack of their own laptops or computers to practice their learning.  This gap became particularly evident during the COVID-19 pandemic when online learning became essential, yet many students were left behind due to lack of access to digital resources.