{"title":"A slippery slope: early learning and equity in rural India","authors":"Y. Zhao, S. Bhattacharjea, B. Alcott","doi":"10.1080/03054985.2022.2101442","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"ABSTRACT There is near consensus that early childhood education and care (ECEC) is essential to children’s early development. A common corollary is that early learning will be pivotal to helping redress inequities in educational outcomes. We examine whether this is true among rural communities in the Indian states of Assam, Rajasthan, and Telangana. Specifically, we assess whether learning gains for the most disadvantaged are retained in comparison to more advantaged children who had lower initial learning levels. We find that lower-achieving, more advantaged children (as measured by mother’s education) soon overtake higher-achieving but less advantaged children. In contrast, higher-achieving girls remain ahead of lower-achieving boys in Assam and Telangana, although they are caught up in Rajasthan. Given the differing patterns across the states, we explore the extent to which these may be shaped by their respective social and policy contexts.","PeriodicalId":47910,"journal":{"name":"Oxford Review of Education","volume":"49 1","pages":"93 - 113"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3000,"publicationDate":"2022-10-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"2","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Oxford Review of Education","FirstCategoryId":"95","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1080/03054985.2022.2101442","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"教育学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"EDUCATION & EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 2
Abstract
ABSTRACT There is near consensus that early childhood education and care (ECEC) is essential to children’s early development. A common corollary is that early learning will be pivotal to helping redress inequities in educational outcomes. We examine whether this is true among rural communities in the Indian states of Assam, Rajasthan, and Telangana. Specifically, we assess whether learning gains for the most disadvantaged are retained in comparison to more advantaged children who had lower initial learning levels. We find that lower-achieving, more advantaged children (as measured by mother’s education) soon overtake higher-achieving but less advantaged children. In contrast, higher-achieving girls remain ahead of lower-achieving boys in Assam and Telangana, although they are caught up in Rajasthan. Given the differing patterns across the states, we explore the extent to which these may be shaped by their respective social and policy contexts.
期刊介绍:
The Oxford Review of Education is a well established journal with an extensive international readership. It is committed to deploying the resources of a wide range of academic disciplines in the service of educational scholarship, and the Editors welcome articles reporting significant new research as well as contributions of a more analytic or reflective nature. The membership of the editorial board reflects these emphases, which have remained characteristic of the Review since its foundation. The Review seeks to preserve the highest standards of professional scholarship in education, while also seeking to publish articles which will be of interest and utility to a wider public, including policy makers.