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India’s primary healthcare reform: Improved service delivery, reduced mortality
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Human Development
How socioeconomic status shapes parental beliefs about child academic achievement
This article highlights the prevalence of socioeconomic disparities in parental beliefs about their child’s performance – often outpacing actual disparities in academic performance. Analysis using data from India, the USA, Kenya, and Ghana shows that parents with lower socioeconomic status – as measured by household consumption and caste identity – are more likely to think that their child is below average. It explores the factors that could drive these beliefs and quantifies the impact of below-average parental beliefs on educational investment in children. This article highlights the prevalence of socioeconomic disparities in parental beliefs about their child’s performance – often outpacing actual disparities in academic performance. Analysis using data from India, the USA, Kenya, and Ghana shows that parents with lower socioeconomic status – as measured by household consumption and caste identity – are more likely to think that their child is below average. It explores the factor
The role of caste and gender in determining science education in India
Studying science at the higher secondary level is essential to pursue further STEM education in India. However, based on recent research, this article documents the prevalence of gender- and caste-based disparities in the choice to study science. It highlights the role of households’ socioeconomic status, lack of access to schooling, and false beliefs and biases in explaining these disparities, and suggests that the social identity of teachers could have an impact on the uptake of science by disadvantaged groups.
Home-based learning through low-cost mobile teaching: Findings from Odisha
Evaluating the effectiveness of a low-cost Home-Based Learning programme implemented during the Covid-19 school closures in Odisha, this article finds that it improved the mathematics and language learning outcomes of children in under-resourced communities. With a rise in hybrid teaching and learning, the findings suggest that such technology-based learning interventions have the ability to provide a safety net in the event of sudden school closures and cushion against a decline in learning levels.
The ‘invisible’ disability of mental illness: Barriers to social security access
Sakshi Sharda writes about the how a lack of clarity on the assessment and diagnosis of mental health and poor implementation of social security schemes increases the vulnerability of those livings with disabilities. She explores the difficulties faced when obtaining disability certification for people suffering from ‘invisible’ disabilities such as mental illness, neurological disorders and learning disabilities. She highlights the shortcomings in existing policy, and issues caused by the lack of consensus on testing and limited access to tertiary health care centres.
Making menstrual health a welfare priority: Insights from three states
Public policies on menstrual health have mainly focussed on distributing sanitary napkins to women and girls. However, in this note, Tanya Rana shares some insights gained from conversations with frontline workers in Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan which reveal the need for making more comprehensive menstrual health services available. She highlights that menstrual health schemes suffer from poor programme implementation, and a lack of training for frontline workers. She recommends that convergent thinking in planning can solve for these lacunae.
How Prayagraj is addressing learning poverty in its Anganwadis
Despite increasing school enrolment rates, learning levels in India remain low. In this note, Agrawal and Kheria describe the efforts being made by the district administration in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, to incorporate early childhood education into the care provided by Anganwadis. They highlight efforts to train Anganwadi workers and leverage technology to engage parents in their children's learning, as well as administrative endeavours to upgrade the infrastructure at Anganwadi centres to ensure greater chances of success from accessing education.
Building resilient education systems: Evidence from five countries
With education disrupted due to the Covid-19 pandemic for over a billion children worldwide, this article emphasises the need to create an education system that is resilient and maintains continuity despite such shocks. It describes an intervention conducted across five developing countries to leverage existing, low-cost family-owned assets – mobile phones – and summarises its effect on children's learning outcomes and wellbeing. It reveals how the original proof-of-concept can be successfully scaled across various country contexts, without showing diminishing returns.
How does a ban on sex-selective abortions affect child health?
Widespread access to sex selection technologies has further skewed the male-biased sex ratio in India. However, this article suggests that the ban on prenatal sex determination may have adverse consequences on the health and mortality outcomes of the surviving children. Looking at children born between in the decade before and after the ban, it finds that the ban led to an increase in the proportion of unwanted girls, and increased competition for resources among children in large families.
Overcoming socio-cultural resistance towards biogas technology
Cultural taboos are often described as an insurmountable barrier to adoption of domestic toilet-linked anaerobic digesters (TLADs). This study provides a better understanding of the socio-cultural resistance towards TLADs through findings from interviews with households in Assam, and demonstrates that this resistance can be negotiable in certain circumstances. It highlights various pathways to adoption of TLADs and suggests ways in which the implementation of the national biogas programmes could become more effective.
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