Mathematics learning inequality among Indian children: an insight into child learning with respect to parental schooling status

By categorizing children on the basis of the schooling status of their parents, this paper explores the mathematics learning inequality among Indian children at two points, 4 years apart. This has been studied in the context of their respective differences in the average socio-economic background characteristics. Applying the threefold Blinder–Oaxaca decomposition, this research identifies factors that shape the learning inequality among these groups. The learning difference is wider among the children of schooled and non-schooled mothers than it is between the children of schooled and non-schooled fathers. Furthermore, the differences in the average socio-economic background characteristics between these groups is also wider among the former group than the latter. The paper finds that it is the evolving/magnifying gap in the average characteristics that crucially explains the learning gaps between them. Furthermore, better impacts, in favor of the children of schooled parents, also has a role in determining this gap in learning. Individual factors that shape this gap has also been identified in this research.