Education Inequality and Affirmative Action: Towards a Better Estimation (Working Paper)

Abstract

The education sector had witnessed an overall decline in terms of budgetary allocations, and was also subject to inequality in distribution of educational opportunities within the country. Education inequality has implications for addressing poverty alleviation and equitable development through education. Education inequality is discussed in the context of the programme of affirmative action in university admissions. The paper develops a new composite indicator of education inequality and applies it to understanding inequality of education across districts. The paper seeks to understand the policy behind recognising and designating districts that should be considered as 'disadvantaged' for the purpose of affirmative action in university education.