Determinants of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy in India

Abstract

The foundational literacy and numeracy are the fundamental pillar in the production of knowledge or human capital which enhances productivity of labours and promotes economic growth. Though the public schools are supposed to impart foundational literacy skills at the primary level but the recent ASER reports state very gloomy pictures. The widening socio-economic inequalities in India, is expected to exacerbate differential learning outcomes, and restrict the educational trajectories of those children from the weaker socio-economic backgrounds. In this context, the present paper, based on IHDS 2011-12 dataset, analyses the status of foundational literacy skills of the children in India and its determinants in terms of their socio-economic, demographic and school level characteristics. The findings of fixed effect models suggest that households’ educational background, socio-economic status, and the school choice play key roles in achieving the foundational literacy and numeracy. Furthermore, a child’s self-effort like homework hours (positively) and absenteeism in school (negatively) influence the attainment of foundational literacy and numeracy.