Educational attainment of young adults in India: Measures, trends and determinants

Given the fact that education of young adults plays crucial role from both economic and social point of view, the objective of the study is to analyse the pattern of improvements in their education and to identify the factors that explain the rate of increase in educational indicators per year. Educational achievement is captured through literacy rate, percentage of population completed higher education and the average years of schooling. The study finds that significant disparities still prevail across gender, regions and rural-urban areas although the gap is reducing over time. Per capita public expenditure in different levels of education has increased monotonously but there prevails consistent spatial variation in the allocation pattern. The estimated models of the annual increase in those education indicators reveal the fact that social status still plays a crucial role in the society in determining actual progress in educational outcomes. The share of expenditure in higher education is an important factor for achieving greater percentage of population completed higher education. But expenditure on adult education does not have significant impact on literacy rate. Share of GSDP in industry and services, and percentage of registered manufacturing are identified as demand pull factors that encourage more education. Besides, percentage of rural households with irrigation facility is important to have better progress in education sector possibly via its impact on improving rural livelihood.