IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecoedu/v97y2023ics0272775723001255.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The educational experiences of Indian children during COVID-19

Author

Listed:
  • Andrew, Alison
  • Salisbury, Adam

Abstract

We explore the educational experiences of Indian children during the COVID-19 pandemic, using time-use and household expenditure data from a panel of over 110,000 households with school-aged children. We find that both 12–18-year old's average learning time and their average households’ expenditure on education more than halved following the March 2020 school closures. Both had barely recovered by the end of 2021 throughout a period of phased but incomplete school reopenings. Interpreting the changed patterns of educational investments through a simple model of skill formation suggests skill inequalities between cohorts may increase, while implications for within-cohort inequalities are ambiguous. Children from households who experienced more-severe economic shocks during the pandemic saw larger losses in inputs although heterogeneity by socio-economic characteristics is more mixed. Overall, differences in losses across subgroups are dwarfed the average losses: every subgroup we analyze experienced average falls in learning time and educational expenditure, respectively, of at least 42 % and 60 %.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew, Alison & Salisbury, Adam, 2023. "The educational experiences of Indian children during COVID-19," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:97:y:2023:i:c:s0272775723001255
    DOI: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2023.102478
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0272775723001255
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.econedurev.2023.102478?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Thomas Hale & Noam Angrist & Rafael Goldszmidt & Beatriz Kira & Anna Petherick & Toby Phillips & Samuel Webster & Emily Cameron-Blake & Laura Hallas & Saptarshi Majumdar & Helen Tatlow, 2021. "A global panel database of pandemic policies (Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker)," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 5(4), pages 529-538, April.
    2. Petra E. Todd & Kenneth I. Wolpin, 2007. "The Production of Cognitive Achievement in Children: Home, School, and Racial Test Score Gaps," Journal of Human Capital, University of Chicago Press, vol. 1(1), pages 91-136.
    3. Cheng-chung Lai & Tai-kuang Ho, 2022. "The Marginal School in Germany, Austria, and the U.K," Springer Books, in: History of Economic Ideas in 20 Talks, chapter 0, pages 89-94, Springer.
    4. Ardington, Cally & Wills, Gabrielle & Kotze, Janeli, 2021. "COVID-19 learning losses: Early grade reading in South Africa," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    5. Cheng-chung Lai & Tai-kuang Ho, 2022. "Early Austrian School," Springer Books, in: History of Economic Ideas in 20 Talks, chapter 0, pages 139-144, Springer.
    6. Cheng-chung Lai & Tai-kuang Ho, 2022. "The Rise of the Chicago School," Springer Books, in: History of Economic Ideas in 20 Talks, chapter 0, pages 145-150, Springer.
    7. Orazio Attanasio & Sarah Cattan & Emla Fitzsimons & Costas Meghir & Marta Rubio-Codina, 2020. "Estimating the Production Function for Human Capital: Results from a Randomized Controlled Trial in Colombia," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 110(1), pages 48-85, January.
    8. Kevin Watkins & Donald A. P. Bundy, 2022. "Free school meals to alleviate global hunger," Nature, Nature, vol. 607(7918), pages 239-239, July.
    9. Cheng-chung Lai & Tai-kuang Ho, 2022. "The Marginal School in France," Springer Books, in: History of Economic Ideas in 20 Talks, chapter 0, pages 81-88, Springer.
    10. Bacher-Hicks, Andrew & Goodman, Joshua & Mulhern, Christine, 2021. "Inequality in household adaptation to schooling shocks: Covid-induced online learning engagement in real time," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 193(C).
    11. Philip Oreopoulos & Till von Wachter & Andrew Heisz, 2012. "The Short- and Long-Term Career Effects of Graduating in a Recession," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 4(1), pages 1-29, January.
    12. Guilherme Lichand & Carlos Alberto Doria & Onicio Leal-Neto & João Paulo Cossi Fernandes, 2022. "Publisher Correction: The impacts of remote learning in secondary education during the pandemic in Brazil," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 6(8), pages 1180-1180, August.
    13. Silvia Helena Barcellos & Leandro S. Carvalho & Adriana Lleras-Muney, 2014. "Child Gender and Parental Investments in India: Are Boys and Girls Treated Differently?," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 6(1), pages 157-189, January.
    14. Cheng-chung Lai & Tai-kuang Ho, 2022. "Antagonists to the Classic School," Springer Books, in: History of Economic Ideas in 20 Talks, chapter 0, pages 69-72, Springer.
    15. Oecd, 2022. "How are public primary schools funded?," Education Indicators in Focus 82, OECD Publishing.
    16. Cheng-chung Lai & Tai-kuang Ho, 2022. "The Institutional School," Springer Books, in: History of Economic Ideas in 20 Talks, chapter 0, pages 123-129, Springer.
    17. Guilherme Lichand & Carlos Alberto Doria & Onicio Leal-Neto & João Paulo Cossi Fernandes, 2022. "The impacts of remote learning in secondary education during the pandemic in Brazil," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 6(8), pages 1079-1086, August.
    18. Rohde, Nicholas & Tang, K.K. & Osberg, Lars & Rao, Prasada, 2016. "The effect of economic insecurity on mental health: Recent evidence from Australian panel data," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 250-258.
    19. Orazio Attanasio & Costas Meghir & Emily Nix, 2020. "Human Capital Development and Parental Investment in India," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 87(6), pages 2511-2541.
    20. Cheng-chung Lai & Tai-kuang Ho, 2022. "Application and Extension of the Marginal School," Springer Books, in: History of Economic Ideas in 20 Talks, chapter 0, pages 95-100, Springer.
    21. Maryam Akmal & Lee Crawfurd & Susannah Hares & Ana Luiza Minardi, 2020. "COVID-19 in Pakistan: A Phone Survey to Assess Education, Economic, and Health-Related Outcomes," Policy Papers 188a, Center for Global Development.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Jailobaeva, Kanykey & Jailobaev, Temirlan & Baialieva, Gulsaadat & Ismanbaeva, Rakhat & Kirbasheva, Dilbara & Adam, Marc-Antoine, 2023. "Empowering parents and promoting school and teacher accountability and responsiveness: Case of Kyrgyzstan," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 103(C).
    2. Emily Beam & Priya Mukherjee & Laia Navarro-Sola, 2022. "Lowering Barriers to Remote Education: Experimental Impacts on Parental Responses and Learning," Working Papers 2022-030, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    3. Michele Giannola, 2022. "Parental investments and intra-household inequality in child human capital: evidence from a survey experiment," IFS Working Papers W22/54, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    4. Kuzmanic, Danilo & Valenzuela, Juan Pablo & Claro, Susana & Canales, Andrea & Cerda, Daniela & Undurraga, Eduardo A., 2023. "Socioeconomic disparities in the reopening of schools during the pandemic in Chile," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 100(C).
    5. John A. List & Fatemeh Momeni & Yves Zenou, 2020. "The Social Side of Early Human Capital Formation: Using a Field Experiment to Estimate the Causal Impact of Neighborhoods," Working Papers 2020-187, Becker Friedman Institute for Research In Economics.
    6. Guariso, Andrea & Björkman Nyqvist, Martina, 2023. "The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on children’s learning and wellbeing: Evidence from India," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    7. Fernanda Estevan & Lucas Finamor, 2022. "School closures and educational path: how the Covid-19 pandemic affected transitions to college," Papers 2210.00138, arXiv.org.
    8. Bastian A. Betthäuser & Anders M. Bach-Mortensen & Per Engzell, 2023. "A systematic review and meta-analysis of the evidence on learning during the COVID-19 pandemic," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 7(3), pages 375-385, March.
    9. Alasino, Enrique & Ramírez, María José & Romero, Mauricio & Schady, Norbert & Uribe, David, 2024. "Learning losses during the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from Mexico," Economics of Education Review, Elsevier, vol. 98(C).
    10. Starling-Alves, Isabella & Hirata, Guilherme & Oliveira, João Batista A., 2023. "Covid-19 school closures negatively impacted elementary-school students’ reading comprehension and reading fluency skills," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    11. ASAKAWA Shinsuke & OHTAKE Fumio & SANO Shinpei, 2023. "The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Academic Achievement of Elementary and Junior High School Students: Analysis using administrative data from Amagasaki City," Discussion papers 23066, Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (RIETI).
    12. Elizabeth M. Caucutt & Lance Lochner & Youngmin Park, 2017. "Correlation, Consumption, Confusion, or Constraints: Why Do Poor Children Perform so Poorly?," Scandinavian Journal of Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 119(1), pages 102-147, January.
    13. Yekaterina Chzhen & Jennifer Symonds & Dympna Devine & Júlia Mikolai & Susan Harkness & Seaneen Sloan & Gabriela Martinez Sainz, 2022. "Learning in a Pandemic: Primary School children’s Emotional Engagement with Remote Schooling during the spring 2020 Covid-19 Lockdown in Ireland," Child Indicators Research, Springer;The International Society of Child Indicators (ISCI), vol. 15(4), pages 1517-1538, August.
    14. Theresa Thompson Chaudhry & Maha Khan & Azka Sarosh Mir, 2021. "Son‐biased fertility stopping, birth spacing, and child nutritional status in Pakistan," Review of Development Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(2), pages 712-736, May.
    15. Deborah A. Cobb-Clark & Nicolás Salamanca & Anna Zhu, 2019. "Parenting style as an investment in human development," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 32(4), pages 1315-1352, October.
    16. Iqbal,Syedah Aroob & Patrinos,Harry Anthony, 2023. "Learning during the Pandemic : Evidence from Uzbekistan," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10474, The World Bank.
    17. Agostinelli, Francesco & Avitabile, Ciro & Bobba, Matteo, 2021. "Enhancing Human Capital in Children: A Case Study on Scaling," TSE Working Papers 21-1196, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), revised Oct 2023.
    18. Orla Doyle, 2017. "The First 2,000 Days and Child Skills: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment of Home Visiting," Working Papers 2017-054, Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Working Group.
    19. Zurab Abramishvili & William Appleman & Sergii Maksymovych, 2019. "Parental Gender Preference in the Balkans and Scandinavia: Gender Bias or Differential Costs?," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp643, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    20. Bonaccolto-Töpfer, Marina & Castagnetti, Carolina, 2021. "The COVID-19 pandemic: A threat to higher education?," Discussion Papers 117, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg, Chair of Labour and Regional Economics.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecoedu:v:97:y:2023:i:c:s0272775723001255. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/econedurev .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.