This paper evaluates whether student loans given to poor students at a large university in Peru are effective in reducing the time-to-degree. It uses a methodology that avoids the "selection problem" because the students voluntarily request a loan depending on their economic situation. The econometric results confirm the negative effect…

Many developing countries use employment guarantee programs to combat poverty. This paper examines the consequences of such employment guarantee programs for the human capital accumulation of children. It exploits the phased roll-out of India's flagship Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGA) to study the effects on…

Education is important for the successful development and growth of individuals and societies, yet some factors adversely affect its provision. This article reports on a study that explored the factors that adversely affect education in the Builsa District located in the Upper East Region (UER) of Northern Ghana, by examining the attitudes and…

In this article, Xin Xiang investigates what dushu, or "schooling," means for rural senior secondary school students in a high-poverty county in southwestern China. With the persistence of China's rural-urban education inequality and alarming reports about secondary school dropout rates, rural students' and their families' attitudes…

One of the Millennium Development Goals is to ensure universal access to primary education by 2015. However, primary school dropout remains a challenge in many developing countries. While official statistics in China report aggregated primary school dropout of only 0.2%, almost no independent, survey-based studies have sought to verify these…

This research is a study of the educational systems of South Africa and the United States in a comparative perspective. The research examines the success and failures of the two systems, taking black student dropout rates as a case study for understanding the structural, philosophical and public policy foundations of the genesis and development of…

The rapid expansion of primary education in Ethiopia has enabled most children to attend primary education--or at least to start schooling. This expansion, however, is largely "symbolic" rather than "substantive" where "substantive" refers to access that generates meaningful learning. The article explores spatial…

School dropout is a growing concern in Central America, and in Latin America as a whole, because of its consequences for economic productivity, the inclusiveness of growth, social cohesion, and increasing youth risks. This paper utilizes more than two decades of household survey data to construct a systematic overview of school dropout at the…

The Central and State governments in India have formulated programs and policies over the years for children with disabilities in order to help them to enter mainstream society. However, despite these policies, children with disabilities are amongst the most disadvantaged in terms of access to schooling and completion of elementary education, as…

The author is concerned with the education available for the Orang Asli, an indigenous minority community in Malaysia. Literature written about Orang Asli and education mostly assumes a deficit perspective where the lack of educational achievement among the Orang Asli children is often attributed to their culture and community. Therefore, rather…

The low quality of educational services in the "favelas" (slums) of Rio de Janeiro is well documented (e.g., Abramo, 2003; Alves, Franco & Ribeiro, 2008; Cano, 2012; Cavallieri e Coelho, 2003; Frigotto, 2004; Henriques, 2000; Henrique & Ramos, 2011; Machado, 2002 & 2008; Valladares, 2010). In 2010, the average twenty-five…

This "At a Glance" highlights data from "The Condition of Education 2023" including statistics in the following categories: (1) Family Characteristics; (2) Preprimary, Elementary, and Secondary Education; (3) Postsecondary Education; (4) Population Characteristics and Economic Outcomes; and (5) International Comparisons. [For…

This article presents a comparative analysis of the determinants of early school leaving (ESL) at the country level. We decompose ESL rates into two components: a "primary" rate reflecting unqualified school leaving from initial education, and a second component accounting for early school leavers who participate in training programmes.…

Despite requirements of and support for universal education up to grade 9, there are concerning reports that poor rural areas in China suffer from high and maybe even rising dropout rates. Although aggregated statistics from the Ministry of Education show almost universal compliance with the 9-year compulsory education law, there have been few…

Educational access in developing countries has improved significantly in recent years, but less evidence is available on learning and learning progress in comparative perspective. This paper employs data from Young Lives to examine levels and trends in cognitive skill development and the links to enrolment in school across the four study countries…