This is obvious, that more parents would sent their children to school when chances are that they would find a good job, but is the Indian economy so dependent on outsourcing? Hard to believe, but there is a study which says exactly that:- Indian call centers promote school enrollment:
"Emily Oster and Bryce Millett report:
"...Using school fixed effects, we estimate the impact of introducing a new ITES center in the vicinity of the school on enrollment. We find that introducing a new ITES center results in a 5.7% increase in number of children enrolled; these effects are extremely localized. We argue this result is not driven by pre-trends in enrollment or endogenous center placement, and is not a result of ITES-center induced changes in population or increases in income. The effect is driven entirely by English-language schools, consistent with the claim that the impacts are driven by changes in returns to schooling.""
Is it likely that there would be an increase of school enrolment by as much as 5.7% when a call centre opens in that locality?
Sounds hard to believe, but if true, it asks for a sober reevaluation of our education and employment policies.
