Parental Education and Family Aspect of School Enrolment in Rural India

Universal access to primary education is one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to be reached by 2015. India has made elementary and free child education to achieve the Universal Elementary Education. Constitution of India states that all children up to age 14 years have a fundamental right to free and compulsory education. Despite several efforts, education for all has not been achieved in India. Furthermore, low quality of school and a high dropout rate, as well as gender and rural-urban disparities remain the major challenges of India. Child's performance in school not only depends on the school or teacher's quality but also on the family environment where the child grows. The study has used NFHS-3 data for all India rural states to analyse the factors responsible for child school enrolment and performance. We found that parents' educational status and family economic condition (household access to basic assets), parents survival are the important factors which are more likely to affect children's education.