Inequalitiy in Continuity in School Education in Kerala State, India

This is an investigation of inequalities in secondary school completion level in Kerala, a state which is way ahead of all other Indian states in terms access to education. Since Kerala has achieved universal elementary education and is in midst of tackling of second generation issues related to schooling, this study focused on examining inequalities in completion of 10 years of school education at the right age of schooling. The analysis is based on data on educational attainment of household population available in the NFHS-III (2005-06) survey. Among the 5-17 population in the Kerala 9 percent are not in school while another 8 percent are over aged children in school. Survival analysis shows that only 70 percent of children enrolled in school are successfully completing secondary school education at the right age. Further the girls outperform boys in schooling continuity and in successful completion of secondary school education. The article brings out the educational backwardness of children belonging to socially vulnerable communities in the State. Household wealth based inequalities were unexpectedly higher with risk of not completing secondary school age at right age being 4.6 times higher for children in poorest quintile than richest quintile counterparts.