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

Satis Devkota, Jesse Eklund, Udaya Wagle

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

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.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)824-843
Number of pages20
JournalEducational Review
Volume74
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - 2022
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

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

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Education

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Caste/ethnic differences in school dropout among 5-20-year olds in Nepal'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this