Presenter

Abbas Ali Gillani

Abstract/Description

Globally, differently abled children (DAC) are facing multiple and often compounding challenges in accessing schools. Compared with children without disabilities, DAC are 49 percent more likely to have never attended school. While there is sufficient literature on the impact of demand side factors on the enrolment of DAC at school, there is very limited research exploring the effects of the supply side determinants, such as school infrastructural facilities available for DAC, on the participation rate of DAC. Using the case study of Pakistan, where 96 percent of DAC do not attend school, school-level data from over 10,000 schools for the years 2019 and 2021 is used to examine the relationship between the availability of school infrastructural facilities available for DAC and the probability of DAC being enrolled at school. Since the outcome response measure is a binary variable representing the probability of DAC being enrolled at school, a multivariate probit model is estimated with multiple robustness checks. The results provide conclusive evidence for the positive correlations between the presence of a ramp and a toilet facility available for DAC and the enrolment of DAC at school. For policymakers, this highlights an immediate need for initiatives towards upgrading school infrastructure, especially at a time when global progress on the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) pertaining to inclusive and equitable education is slow. Furthermore, future research should focus on mapping school infrastructural facilities on specific forms of learning, physical and invisible disabilities, as literature quantifying the magnitude of such mechanisms is an emerging area of interest.

Keywords

Differently abled children, enrolment, infrastructure, SDG

JEL Codes

I20; I21; I24

Location

MAV 1 room, Adamjee building

Session Theme

Human Development and Inclusion I

Session Type

Parallel Technical Session

Session Chair

Nasir Iqbal, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics

Session Discussant

Khadija Bari, Institute of Business Administration ; Fatima Sadik, Institute of Business Administration

Start Date

9-12-2024 2:30 PM

End Date

12-2024 4:30 PM

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Dec 9th, 2:30 PM Dec 1st, 4:30 PM

Does Improving Infrastructural Facilities at Schools Increases Participation Rate of Differently Abled Children? Evidence from Pakistan

MAV 1 room, Adamjee building

Globally, differently abled children (DAC) are facing multiple and often compounding challenges in accessing schools. Compared with children without disabilities, DAC are 49 percent more likely to have never attended school. While there is sufficient literature on the impact of demand side factors on the enrolment of DAC at school, there is very limited research exploring the effects of the supply side determinants, such as school infrastructural facilities available for DAC, on the participation rate of DAC. Using the case study of Pakistan, where 96 percent of DAC do not attend school, school-level data from over 10,000 schools for the years 2019 and 2021 is used to examine the relationship between the availability of school infrastructural facilities available for DAC and the probability of DAC being enrolled at school. Since the outcome response measure is a binary variable representing the probability of DAC being enrolled at school, a multivariate probit model is estimated with multiple robustness checks. The results provide conclusive evidence for the positive correlations between the presence of a ramp and a toilet facility available for DAC and the enrolment of DAC at school. For policymakers, this highlights an immediate need for initiatives towards upgrading school infrastructure, especially at a time when global progress on the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) pertaining to inclusive and equitable education is slow. Furthermore, future research should focus on mapping school infrastructural facilities on specific forms of learning, physical and invisible disabilities, as literature quantifying the magnitude of such mechanisms is an emerging area of interest.