Pro-Poor Progress in Education in Developing Countries?

Abstract

Attendance in education and associated years of schooling have expandedsubstantially in developing countries in recent years. But has thisexpansion in enrolments reduced existing inequalities in educationalaccess and achievements? This paper analyzes differences in improvementsin the access to the education system and in educational outcomesacross the welfare distribution between and within countries, andalso by gender and regions for a sample of 37 developing countriesusing Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). For the analysis, thetoolbox of pro-poor growth analysis is applied to several educationalindicators. We find drastic inequalities in educational attendanceacross the income distribution. Interestingly, inequalities in attendancedeclines with rising average attendance, while inequality in completionrates or schooling years increases with rising completion rates orschooling years.