Can social integration in schools be mandated: Evidence from the Right to Education Act in India

Although Affirmative Action policies have been enforced in many countries, their consequences are highly understudied, especially in the context of developing economies. Section 12(1)(c) of the Right to Education (RTE) Act enforced in 2009 is the first attempt to introduce affirmative action in primary schools in India. The act requires all private schools to reserve at least twenty five percent seats for children from economically weaker sections. To understand the effect of the act on i) social integration and ii) academic outcomes, we asked 1500 children (grades one to three) from four schools to answer friendship surveys and short tests in Mathematics and English. The schools in our sample vary considerably in constitution and were intentionally chosen to understand the impact of the act in different school settings. The friendship surveys show strong homophily i.e. non-RTE students cite other non-RTE students as friends, while RTE students chose to be friends primarily with other RTE students. Trends in test scores reveal that students admitted under the RTE quota score significantly lower than non-RTE students. However, RTE students who have a higher share of non-RTE friends have better test scores, suggesting that affirmative action may have a positive influence on learning outcomes for RTE children. Further we note that commitment from the school authorities and systematic monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the act will go a long way in bringing out some of the benefits that this act was designed to achieve. Our findings have important policy implications with respect to ensuring proper implementation of the Section12(1)(c) of the RTE act in schools across the country.