Students Today, Teachers Tomorrow? The Rise of Affordable Private Schools

The objective of this study is to highlight the barriers to entry faced by private sector education while also analyzing the role played by public sector in shaping the existence of private schools. Data from census of private schools, population censuses (2001 and 1981) and provincial Educational Management Information Systems (EMIS) along with administrative data is interpreted through instrumental variable analysis that includes regression analysis, Linear IV and Biprobit tests. The analysis reveals that the chances of private school locating in a village increase by 29% to 35% if a high school already exists within the proximity. This is because existence of high school indirectly results in a pool of female teachers that have attained education till the secondary level. Cultural restrictions on mobility and low total labor market returns for women means that private school adopt a monopolistic stance on providing employment opportunities to females and this in turn allows them to lower the wage-cost of running a school by 20%.

The paper recommends that in light of the result, there is an imminent need for public sector to invest heavily in primary and secondary education as female students of today are likely to be female teachers of tomorrow and investment in girl’s education this will create a virtuous cycle that will have a beneficial impact on human capital development.