Objectives: To study the multidimensional disparity in elementary schools of the East and South Indian states in terms of gender gap ratio, literacy, enrolment and dropout rates. Besides, the study has also tried to explore the multidimensional disparity in educational attainment caused by scarcity of basic educational infrastructure and low educational expenditure therein.
Methods: The study has taken both East Indian States (West Bengal, Odisha, Bihar, and Jharkhand) and South Indian States (Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Telangana) for analysing multidimensional disparity. Statistical tools such as annual compound growth rate, average, ratio, percentage etc have been used for the empirical analysis by taking secondary data collected from different sources like various reports of Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), GoI, Elementary Education Statistics; U-DISE, NIEPA, New Delhi, and Census of India 2011.
Findings: The study found that high disparity persists in government and private schools in terms of enrolment of both boys and girls among the states. The dropout rate is high in the East Indian states and less in the South Indian states. South Indian states are well ranked in comparison to East Indian states in terms of Educational Development Index (EDI). Excluding Karnataka, in all other states the recruitment of teachers has increased in the assessment period, but the percentage of teacher training during in-service has declined significantly. Due to different time-bound programmes implemented by the state governments in both the regions, literacy and enrolment rates have increased significantly, but the multidimensional disparity is still a major concern today. Thus this is the high time to focus upon the regional disparity in educational development and make necessary policies for balanced regional development.
Application: The government should not only increase the percentage of expenditure on education but also have to make comprehensive plans for per capita student expenditure and per capita school expenditure for bringing equity, efficiency and quality in elementary education across all states of East and South India.