Regional and socioeconomic inequalities in access to pre-primary education in India: evidence from a recent household survey
Abstract In India, the National Education Policy 2020 recommends ensuring universal access to high-quality early childhood care and education for children aged 3–6 years by 2030. Using the 75th round of National Statistical Office data (2017–2018), this paper analyses the regional and socioeconomic...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SpringerOpen
2023-04-01
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| Series: | International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40723-023-00117-4 |
| _version_ | 1797836234701144064 |
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| author | Pradeep Kumar Choudhury Radhika Joshi Amit Kumar |
| author_facet | Pradeep Kumar Choudhury Radhika Joshi Amit Kumar |
| author_sort | Pradeep Kumar Choudhury |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract In India, the National Education Policy 2020 recommends ensuring universal access to high-quality early childhood care and education for children aged 3–6 years by 2030. Using the 75th round of National Statistical Office data (2017–2018), this paper analyses the regional and socioeconomic inequalities in access to pre-primary education. Also, we investigate the specific role of households’ economic status and educational attainment in explaining these inequalities. We find considerable regional (rural/urban) and socioeconomic inequalities in access to pre-primary education in India, with girls and children belonging to historically disadvantaged social groups (scheduled castes and scheduled tribes) less likely to attend early childhood education, particularly in rural areas. We find that a substantial portion of the rural–urban gap in access to pre-primary education can be removed by controls for households’ economic condition and household head’s educational status. In addition, we find gender and socioeconomic inequalities in the household investment in early years education. These findings highlight the need to put policy efforts and commitments to reducing barriers to accessing pre-primary education for children in disadvantaged conditions in India. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T15:06:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-aab308a41ef444c1b53b0d161243f241 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2288-6729 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T15:06:39Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | SpringerOpen |
| record_format | Article |
| series | International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy |
| spelling | doaj.art-aab308a41ef444c1b53b0d161243f2412023-04-30T11:29:17ZengSpringerOpenInternational Journal of Child Care and Education Policy2288-67292023-04-0117112510.1186/s40723-023-00117-4Regional and socioeconomic inequalities in access to pre-primary education in India: evidence from a recent household surveyPradeep Kumar Choudhury0Radhika Joshi1Amit Kumar2Zakir Husain Centre for Educational Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru UniversityPost-Doctoral Fellow, Indian Institute of ScienceZakir Husain Centre for Educational Studies, School of Social Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru UniversityAbstract In India, the National Education Policy 2020 recommends ensuring universal access to high-quality early childhood care and education for children aged 3–6 years by 2030. Using the 75th round of National Statistical Office data (2017–2018), this paper analyses the regional and socioeconomic inequalities in access to pre-primary education. Also, we investigate the specific role of households’ economic status and educational attainment in explaining these inequalities. We find considerable regional (rural/urban) and socioeconomic inequalities in access to pre-primary education in India, with girls and children belonging to historically disadvantaged social groups (scheduled castes and scheduled tribes) less likely to attend early childhood education, particularly in rural areas. We find that a substantial portion of the rural–urban gap in access to pre-primary education can be removed by controls for households’ economic condition and household head’s educational status. In addition, we find gender and socioeconomic inequalities in the household investment in early years education. These findings highlight the need to put policy efforts and commitments to reducing barriers to accessing pre-primary education for children in disadvantaged conditions in India.https://doi.org/10.1186/s40723-023-00117-4Pre-primary educationRegional inequalitySocioeconomic inequalityHousehold expenditureIndia |
| spellingShingle | Pradeep Kumar Choudhury Radhika Joshi Amit Kumar Regional and socioeconomic inequalities in access to pre-primary education in India: evidence from a recent household survey International Journal of Child Care and Education Policy Pre-primary education Regional inequality Socioeconomic inequality Household expenditure India |
| title | Regional and socioeconomic inequalities in access to pre-primary education in India: evidence from a recent household survey |
| title_full | Regional and socioeconomic inequalities in access to pre-primary education in India: evidence from a recent household survey |
| title_fullStr | Regional and socioeconomic inequalities in access to pre-primary education in India: evidence from a recent household survey |
| title_full_unstemmed | Regional and socioeconomic inequalities in access to pre-primary education in India: evidence from a recent household survey |
| title_short | Regional and socioeconomic inequalities in access to pre-primary education in India: evidence from a recent household survey |
| title_sort | regional and socioeconomic inequalities in access to pre primary education in india evidence from a recent household survey |
| topic | Pre-primary education Regional inequality Socioeconomic inequality Household expenditure India |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s40723-023-00117-4 |
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