Abstract
Rural transformation requires transformation of schools in rural areas into powerful centres of learning in such a way that children, parents, and the whole community look at schools as the pivot of transformation. Focusing on rural–urban inequalities in education, this paper presents an overview of the growth, achievements and problems in elementary education in India. With the help of recent data, an attempt has been made to analyse questions such as: why do children not go to schools? Once they enrol in schools, why do they drop out soon, before completing a given cycle of education? When they continue in schools, why are their levels of learning not satisfactory and why are the overall education outcomes of the primary and upper primary schools not up to the mark? A few major policy implications are also drawn from the several results presented.
Published in Indian Journal of Human Development 5 (1) (January–June 2011): 29–60; also in Education for Rural Transformation: National, International and Comparative Perspectives (ed. Vinayagum Chinapah). Stockholm: Stockholm University, 2011, pp. 169–98. © Institute for Human Development.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsReferences
Banerjee, A., S. Cole, E. Duflo, and L. Linden. 2007. Remedying Education: Evidence from Two Randomized Experiments in India. Quarterly Journal of Economics 122 (3): 1235–1264.
CABE: Central Advisory Board of Education, Government of India. 1944. Post-war Educational Development in India. Report of the CABE Committee [Sargent Commission Report], New Delhi.
Carnoy, M. 1992. The Case for Investing in Basic Education. New York: UNICEF.
Cochrane, S.H. 1988. The Effects of Education, Health and Social Security on Fertility in Developing Countries, WPS 93. Washington, DC: World Bank.
Coleman, James S., Ernest Q. Campbell, Carol J. Hobson, James McPartland, Alexander Mood, Frederic Weinfeld, and Robert York. 1966. Equality of Educational Opportunity. Washington, DC: US Government Printing Press.
Dasgupta, Partha. 1993. An Enquiry into Well Being and Destitution. London: Oxford University Press.
Drèze, J., and A.K. Sen. 1995. India: Economic Development and Social Opportunity. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Education Commission. 1966. Education for Development: Report of the Education Commission 1964–66. New Delhi: National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) [Reprint 1971].
Filmer, Deon. 2004. If You Build It, Will They Come? School Availability and School Enrolment in 21 Poor Countries. Policy Research Working Paper No. 3340. Washington, DC: World Bank.
Glewwe, P., and S. Lambert. 2010. Education Production Functions: Evidence from Developing Countries. In Economics of Education, ed. Dominic J. Brewer and Patrick J. McEwan, 137–147. Amsterdam: Elsevier/Academic Press.
Government of India. 1986. National Policy on Education 1986. New Delhi: Government of India.
Government of India. 2009. Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act 2009, New Delhi. Available at: http://education.nic.in/Elementary/free%20and%20compulsory.pdf. Accessed November 2010.
Hanushek, Erick A. 1986. The Economics of Schooling: Production Efficiency in Public Schools. Journal of Economic Literature 24 (3): 1141–1177.
Hanushek, Erick A. 2010. Education Production Functions: Evidence from Developing Countries. In Economics of Education, ed. Dominic J. Brewer and Patrick J. McEwan, 132–136. Amsterdam: Elsevier/Academic Press.
Inkeles, A., and D. Smith. 1974. Becoming Modern. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Jamison, D.T., and Lawrence J. Lau. 1982. Farmer Education and Farm Efficiency. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Krishnaji, N. 2001. Poverty, Gender and Schooling: A Study of Two Districts in Andhra Pradesh. In Elementary Education in Rural India: A Grassroots View, ed. A. Vaidyanathan and P.R. Gopinathan Nair, 131–165. New Delhi: Sage.
Lockheed, M., A. Verspoor, and Associates. 1991. Improving Primary Education in Developing Countries. Oxford and New York: World Bank Publication.
McMahon, W.W. 2010. External Benefits of Education. In Economics of Education, ed. Dominic J. Brewer and Patrick J. McEwan, 68–79. Amsterdam: Elsevier/Academic Press.
Minhas, B.S. 1992. Educational Deprivation and Its Role as a Spoiler of Access to Better Life in India. In The Quality of Life, ed. A. Dutta and M.M. Agrawal, 81–98. Shimla: Indian Institute of Advanced Study/B.R. Publishing Co.
Muennig, P. 2010. Education and Health. In Economics of Education, ed. Dominic J. Brewer and Patrick J. McEwan, 80–88. Amsterdam: Elsevier/Academic Press.
Nair, P.R.G. 1981. Primary Education, Population Growth and Socio-economic Change. New Delhi: Allied.
National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO). 1998. Attending an Educational Institution in India: Its Level, Nature and Cost (NSS 52nd Round 1996–97) [Report no. 439]. New Delhi: Government of India.
National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO). 2010. Participation and Expenditure in Education in India 2007–08 (64th Round) [NSS Report No. 532]. New Delhi: Government of India.
Panchamukhi, V.R., G.A. Tadas, and S.K. Mohanty. 1995. Social Development and Economic Development: How Are They Related? RIS Discussion Paper, Research and Information System for the Non-aligned and Other Developing Countries, New Delhi (mimeo).
Patrinos, H.A., and G. Psacharopoulos. 2010. Returns to Education in Developing Countries. In Economics of Education, ed. Dominic J. Brewer and Patrick J. McEwan, 44–51. Amsterdam: Elsevier/Academic Press.
PROBE [Public Report on Basic Education]. 1999. Public Report on Basic Education in India. Oxford and New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
Psacharopoulos, G., and Jandhyala B.G. Tilak. 1992. Education and Wage Earnings. In The Encyclopaedia of Educational Research, ed. M.C. Alkin (Editor-in-Chief), 419–423. New York: Macmillan, for the American Educational Research Association.
Psacharopoulos, G., and M. Woodhall. 1985. Education and Development: An Analysis of Investment Choices. New York: Oxford University Press, for the World Bank.
Rawls, John. 1971. A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Raza, Moonis, and H. Ramachandran. 1990. Schooling and Rural Transformation. New Delhi: Vikas for National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration.
Tilak, Jandhyala B.G. 1987. Economics of Inequality in Education. New Delhi/ Beverly Hills/Newbury Park/London/Delhi: Sage, for Institute of Economic Growth.
Tilak, Jandhyala B.G. 1989a. Education and Its Relation to Economic Growth, Poverty and Income Distribution. Discussion Paper No. 46. Washington, DC: World Bank.
Tilak, Jandhyala B.G. 1989b. Education and Basic Needs. In Human Resource Development for Rural Development, ed. M.K. Rao and P.P. Sharma, 47–67. Bombay: Himalaya.
Tilak, Jandhyala B.G. 1990. Education and Earnings: Gender Differences in India. International Journal of Development Planning Literature 5 (4) (October): 131–139.
Tilak, Jandhyala B.G. 1994. Education for Development in Asia. New Delhi: Sage.
Tilak, Jandhyala B.G. 1999. National Human Development Initiative: Education in the Union Budget. Economic and Political Weekly 34 (10–11) (6 March): 614–620.
Tilak, Jandhyala B.G. 2002. Education Poverty in India. Review of Development and Change 7 (1) (January–June): 1–44.
UNDP. 1991. Human Development Report. New York: Oxford University Press.
Weiner, M. 1991. The Child and the State in India. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
World Bank. 1993. The East Asian Miracle. Washington, DC: World Bank.
Additional Data Sources
DISE: District Information on School Education Reports [National University of Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA), New Delhi]. 2008, 2009, 2010.
Flash Statistics.
Analytical Report.
Analytical Tables.
Elementary Education in India: Progress Towards Universalization of Elementary Education (UEE).
Elementary Education in India: Where Do We Stand? District Report Cards.
Elementary Education in India: Where Do We Stand? State Report Cards, Indian Market Research Bureau (IMRB) (Social Rural Research Institute).
Survey Report on Out-of-School Children.
Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), Government of India, New Delhi.
Selected Educational Statistics.
National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT), New Delhi.
All-India Educational Survey.
National Achievement Survey Report. 2008.
A Mid-term National Survey: Learning Achievement of Class V Children, 2008.
Pratham. 2006–2010. Annual Status of Education Report. Mumbai: Pratham Resource Centre.
Acknowledgements
Revised version of the paper presented at the International Symposium on Education for Rural Transformation (Stockholm, Institute of International Education, Stockholm, Sweden: Stockholms Universitet, 8–10 November 2010). The comments and suggestions made by the participants, particularly Abhimanyu Singh, Vinayagum Chinapah, Hans Bhola, Suleman Sumra, Pushpanadham Karnam and Manzoor Ahmed and those of the anonymous referees of the IJHD are gratefully acknowledged. This paper was originally prepared as a part of the activities of the Africa–Asia University Dialogue for Educational Development Network Project (Hiroshima University). The author is grateful to Kazuhiro Yoshida. The usual disclaimers apply. The paper in its present or earlier version may appear in a book being edited by the Stockholms Universitet.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Appendix
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2018 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Tilak, J.B.G. (2018). What Matters for Outcomes in Elementary Education in India?. In: Education and Development in India. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0250-3_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-0250-3_4
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore
Print ISBN: 978-981-13-0249-7
Online ISBN: 978-981-13-0250-3
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)