Interaction of village and school latrines on educational outcomes in India

Abstract

Research has shown that improved sanitation environments can lead to better educational outcomes. Similarly, there is some evidence that school latrines may also improve school enrollment and attendance, particularly for girls. This paper explores the interaction effect of village-level latrine coverage and school latrines on child educational outcomes. The overall improved sanitation conditions from higher latrine coverage and the presence of school latrines might produce an additive effect and improve educational outcomes even further. Using multiple years of data from the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) in India, this paper shows that there is no evidence of an additive effect. However, across multiple models, village-level latrine coverage is associated with lower school dropout rates and higher test scores, particularly among girls. School latrines do not appear to have a strong positive association with educational outcomes.