District wise analysis of the impact of economic growth on primary and secondary education in Karnataka

Education is an important component of human development. The significance of education at primary and secondary levels in relation to economic growth and development is well established by the various early works of Nobel laureates like Gary Becker (1964) and Psacharopoulous G (1984). The primary and secondary school education forms the base for pursuing higher education, the employment prospects and enhancing the standard of living of the people. The paper analyses the impact of economic growth on primary and secondary education in Karnataka by considering variables like Net District Domestic Product (NDDP), total enrolment, number of schools in the 30 districts of Karnataka state. The NDDP is taken as a measure of economic development and the other variables represent the qualitative and quantitative aspects of school education. The paper uses Index of Dissimilarity to measure the inequality among the different states with regard to the above mentioned variables and Regression analysis to measure the impact of NDDP on total enrolment and number of schools. Therefore, the paper tries to estimate the district wise variations in enrolment in school education, find out the inter-district variations in NDDPand its impact on school education in Karnataka state