The impact of primary schooling expansion on adult educational attainment, literacy, and health: Evidence from India’s Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan

Abstract

In 2001–2002, India launched a schooling infrastructure program called the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). We examined the long-term associations of SSA with adult education and health. We used data from a national survey and employed fixed-effects regression models to compare outcomes of adults who were originally eligible for primary school during four years before (control) and after 2001 (intervention). Intervention group adults had 0.2 higher grade attainment, 0.04 points higher literacy test score (0–2 scale), and 0.12 higher weight-for-height z-score as compared with the control group. SSA was associated with improved education and health outcomes across socioeconomic subgroups but did not appear to reduce gender gaps substantially.