Abstract:
This paper examines factors affecting literacy and access to school
education in West Bengal, India, and reports the results of a binomial
probit model estimated with primary data from ten villages of West
Bengal. In the analysis of adult literacy, the significant variables were
sex, caste and occupational status and village location. In the probit
results for educational achievements of children of ages 6 to 16 years in
the same villages, however, occupational status was not statistically
significant. In contemporary West Bengal, we argue, class barriers to
school attendance have become less significant; other features of
educational deprivation persist.
