Learning Deficits and Early School Leaving: Evidence from a Longitudinal Study in India

K.G. Santhya, Independent Researcher
Nicole A. Haberland, Population Council

Early school leaving (ESL) and learning deficits (LD) affect large proportions of youth. Although the relationship between LD and ESL is extensively acknowledged in studies from the Global North, fewer studies from the Global South have examined it. This is partially because of limited availability of studies that used longitudinal designs and that measured LD objectively. Moreover, endogeneity issues complicate studying this relationship. Drawing on data from a longitudinal study in two states of India, we examined the relationship between LD and ESL among adolescents and gender differences, if any, in this relationship (N= 9,169; 5,493 girls and 3,676 boys). We fitted fixed effects regression models and discrete-time hazard models, separately for girls and boys. Some 41% of girls and 37% of boys aged 18 and above were early school leavers. Learning deficit of varying intensity affected 64% of girls and 48% of boys at wave 1 and these levels remained similar over time. Preliminary regression results show that compared to girls and boys who were not able to read fluently and solve a division problem, those who were able to do so were less likely to have discontinued schooling during the inter-survey period and before completing grade 12.

Keywords: Human Capital, Education, and Work, Children, Adolescents, and Youth, Gender Dynamics, Longitudinal studies

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