Is the learning crisis responsible for school dropout? A longitudinal study of Andhra Pradesh, India

Having achieved remarkable improvements in basic education, India now faces the issues of low learning levels, and a high dropout rate. This paper examines whether the learning crisis is responsible for students dropping out of school using unique panel data that followed nearly 1000 Indian children from 2002 to 2013. We discover that literacy skills acquired by the age of 12 have long-lasting, positive effects on subsequent school progression. We also find that local job opportunities influence school progression. Further, we find that time spent on household chores negatively affects literacy acquirement during primary school years.