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Structural adjustment, education and poor households in India: analysis of a sample survey

To what extent does poverty influence educational performance?

Authors: Pradhan, B. K.; Subramanian, A.
Publisher: National Council of Applied Economic Research, India

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Rapid globalisation and fast paced technological progress across the globe present new challenges for India with gradual opening up of its economy to international competition. The amount and the quality of education and skills that India possess are becoming critical factors in taking advantage of the rapid technological transformation and the transition to a more open economy. This also reiterates the role of education and skill development in mitigating social and economic vulnerability. This paper, reports some new evidence from an all-India household survey on demand and supply issues in schooling. In India, most studies attribute poor educational performance to poverty. Though this factor is important, the recent survey evidence shows that just lack of interest in schooling is the major factor explaining low enrolment and high dropout rates in India. This is because of the lack of expected future earnings. This paper argues that the solution to this problem lies in reorienting the educational sector to demand lead supply transformation towards skill enhancement by privatising the educational sector. The role of the state should be reduced to support only the basic education at the primary level.

[Author's abstract]