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Educational Disparity in East and West Pakistan, 1947-71: Was East Pakistan Discriminated Against?

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  • Mohammad Niaz Asadullah

Abstract

This paper documents the regional divide in educational facilities between East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and West Pakistan between 1947 and 1971. During this period, the total number of primary schools in East Pakistan declined, leading to overcrowding of existing schools and classrooms. On the other hand, despite being endowed with fewer schools, West Pakistan surpassed East Pakistan in the total number of primary schools, and in teacher-student ratios. This evident educational disparity, we argue, cannot be attributed to regional differences in school age population, school types, the quality and unit cost of schooling. Rather, this problem is examined in terms of the hypothesis of `discrimination` as an alternate explanation.

Suggested Citation

  • Mohammad Niaz Asadullah, 2006. "Educational Disparity in East and West Pakistan, 1947-71: Was East Pakistan Discriminated Against?," Oxford Economic and Social History Working Papers _063, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:oxf:esohwp:_063
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    Cited by:

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    2. N N Tarun Chakravorty, 2018. "The Development Surprise of Bangladesh: Its Implications for Other Bay-of-Bengal and Andaman Sea Rim Nations," South Asian Survey, , vol. 25(1-2), pages 1-26, March.
    3. M. Niaz Asadullah & Jeron Joseph & James Chin, 2023. "The Political Economy of Poverty Reduction in Malaysia," Progress in Development Studies, , vol. 23(2), pages 127-151, April.
    4. Jacob Weisdorf & Paul Sharp, 2009. "From preventive to permissive checks: the changing nature of the Malthusian relationship between nuptiality and the price of provisions in the nineteenth century," Cliometrica, Journal of Historical Economics and Econometric History, Association Française de Cliométrie (AFC), vol. 3(1), pages 55-70, January.
    5. Muhammad Qahraman Kakar, 2021. "Ethnic Disparities, Women Education and Empowerment in South Asia," Erudite Ph.D Dissertations, Erudite, number ph21-01 edited by Manon Domingues Dos Santos, December.
    6. Selim Raihan & Sunera Saba Khan, 2020. "Structural transformation, inequality dynamics, and inclusive growth in Bangladesh," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2020-44, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Economic History; Federalism; Bangladesh; Pakistan;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I20 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - General
    • N35 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - Asia including Middle East
    • N95 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History - - - Asia including Middle East

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