International Journal of Educational Research and Development Vol. 5(2), pp. 019-032, September 2016 ISSN 2327-316X ©2016 Academe Research Journals

 

Full Length Research Paper

Primary education and its consequences towards economic trend in South Asia. A review of previous literature

Khan Shahzad1,2* Puangkaew Lurhathaiopath2 and Shusuke Matsushita2

1School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba, Ibaraki-ken Japan.

2Faculty of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba

Corresponding author E-mail: dr.shahzad99@gmail.com. Tel: +818091533822.

Accepted 25 August, 2016

Abstract

The study is based on the review about the Primary Education and its consequences towards economic trend in South Asian countries. The review of research conducted by different authors in the world shows that primary education increases the productivity of the people of a country which can contribute in the income of an individual and in a society as a whole, and can also help in social and health indicators. The recent trend from the World Bank and UNESCO shows that countries did well from the last 15 years in educational opportunities in South Asia due to which youth literacy has significantly increased which can contribute in the economic development in the region. The review suggested that household decision making towards the schooling of their children depends on the returns to education in that region. The rate of returns is mostly used by the economists to understand the decision making of the households on the schooling of their children. In spite of the returns to education there are the external benefits of schooling which are other non-market education welfares and can improve the health status of households, family income, can reduce household family size, improve quality of life, efficiency in household production, better childcare and political awareness, etc. The GDP and Per Capita income has also increased due to momentous deviations in youth educational attainments. This research showed that the literacy rate in South Asia has been increasing and will improve the life of individuals in the region. Although there is a significant change in educational attainment and literacy rate, except Pakistan, which has the lowest literacy rate and is far behind the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) has to improve its policies and achieve all the objectives in the literacy level. The research will give an opportunity to the policy makers to take initiative for further improvement of the targets and goals in Education as is the basic right of an individual in the world and for the people of South Asian countries.

Key words: Returns to education, South Asia, and economic development.