Abstract:

Providing elementary education to all, irrespective of gender, caste, class and social origin is a commitment made in the Indian constitution. Several measures have been undertaken by both Central and State governments in pursuit of this commitment. The recent enactment of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education (RTE) Act (2009) marks a major milestone in this regard, as it has given the legal framework to pursue the goal of ensuring equal access to good quality elementary education for all within a specified period.

However, there exists considerable evidence on the manner in which macro-structural elements such as State policies shape educational stratification by influencing the structure and supply of schooling. This paper draws on multilevel modeling based on the sample of 49 schools and 1750 students’ data collected through the field survey conducted in Darbhanga district of Bihar, India.

The key research questions addressed in the paper are;
a. To what extent is access to school resources are determined by socio-economic status of households?
b. To what extent do school resources have an impact on educational outcomes?

This paper argues that the student’s socioeconomic disadvantages have a negative effect on educational attainment and its negative effect gets compounded by access to poor quality schools. The immediate consequence of the compounding effect is that widening of inequality in educational attainment between different sub groups, Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes.

Results presented in this research indicate significant portion of inequality in educational attainment is explained by school resources. Therefore, access to educational resources at school can help them to meet their learning needs. In the event of this, the provision of school resources can play a crucial role in shaping the relationship between socioeconomic disadvantages and their educational attainment.

Keywords:

Secondary education, school size and equity.