Caste/ethnic differences in school dropout among 5-20-year olds in Nepal

ABSTRACT

Reducing school dropout rates has been a challenging policy problem in an effort to improve educational participation and attainment in developing countries. This paper examines the differences in school dropout rates among the 5–20-year olds across three major caste/ethnic groups in Nepal using nationally representative survey data. Findings suggest sizeable differences witnessed by the indigenous and especially lower-caste Dalit groups when compared to the historically privileged Hindu groups. The use of Fairlie’s non-linear regression-based decomposition technique helps ascertain the major sources of these differences. Parental occupations, age, marital status and mountains, hills and far-western regions of residence are found to help explain such differences. The paper underscores the role of public policies on affirmative action and area-based, conditional cash transfer initiatives as well as effective public awareness campaigns to improve the educational participation of these otherwise historically disadvantaged caste/ethnic groups in Nepal.

KEYWORDS:

• Caste-ethnic differences
• school dropout
• Fairlie’snon-linear decomposition
• Nepal

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. The comparable rates, for example, are 27, 38 and 51%, respectively for India and 27, 36 and 49%, respectively for Pakistan.

2. It is important to note the changing federal structure of Nepal where many of the administrative divisions that existed at the time of these surveys have changed drastically. The number of districts, for example, has now increased to 77 whereas the regional structure used more for analytical purposes has now been streamlined into seven formal provinces with more stringent administrative apparatus, electoral systems and legal and financial status.

3. Ecologically, Nepal is divided in to three categories: Mountain, Hill, and Terai. Terai is the flat alluvial land that spreads from East to West in Nepal.