BRAC, one of the largest development organizations in the world runs a large number of non-formal primary schools in Bangladesh that target out-of-school children from poor families. These schools are well known for their effectiveness in closing the gender gap in primary school enrolment. On the other hand, registered non-government secondary madrasas (or Islamic schools) today enrol one girl against every boy student. In this paper, a positive spillover effect of BRAC schools on female secondary enrolment in registered madrasas is documented. Drawing upon school enrolment data aggregated at the region level, it first shows that regions that had more registered madrasas experienced greater secondary female enrolment growth during 1999-2003, holding the number of secular secondary schools constant. In this context, the impact of BRAC-run primary schools on female enrolment in registered madrasas is tested. This paper deals with the potential endogeneity of placement of BRAC schools using the instrumental variable approach. Controlling factors such as local-level poverty, road access, and distance from major cities, shows that regions with a greater presence of BRAC schools have higher female enrolment growth in secondary madrasas. The effect is much bigger when compared to that of secondary schools.
Authors: Asadullah, Mohammad Niaz; Chaudhury, Nazmul
Type: Monograph
Year: 2013
