Working Paper: NBER ID: w25608
Authors: Manisha Shah; Bryce Millett Steinberg
Abstract: The Right to Education Act in 2009 guaranteed access to free primary education for all children in India ages 6-14. This paper investigates whether national trends in educational data changed around the time of this law using household surveys and administrative data. We document four trends: (1) School-going increases after the passage of RTE, (2) Test scores decline dramatically after 2010, (3) School infrastructure appears to be improving both before and after RTE, and (4) The number of students who have to repeat a grade falls precipitously after RTE is enacted, in line with the official provisions of the law.
Keywords: Right to Education Act; enrollment; test scores; school quality; India
JEL Codes: I21; I25; O38; O53
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Right to Education Act (RTE) (I24) | school attendance (I21) |
| school attendance (I21) | test scores (math) (C12) |
| school attendance (I21) | test scores (reading) (C52) |
| Right to Education Act (RTE) (I24) | test scores (math) (C12) |
| Right to Education Act (RTE) (I24) | test scores (reading) (C52) |
| Right to Education Act (RTE) (I24) | school infrastructure improvements (H54) |