Non-completion of primary and secondary levels of schooling among India’s youth: evidence from a national survey

Leaving school before the completion of a particular level of education remains a major problem, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. This paper focuses on identifying factors associated with the non-completion of primary and secondary levels of schooling in India. We analyzed data on 175,764 male and female youths (representing 33.5% of all youth ages 15–24) extracted from the National Family Health Survey, conducted in 2015–2016. We assessed the influence of individual, household, and contextual background factors on non-completion of primary and secondary levels of schooling. Binary logistic regressions were performed to identify the relative importance of these factors in determining the outcomes. In the primary and secondary school groups, 54.6% and 68.5% respectively, did not complete the corresponding levels of schooling. Of the eight background characteristics included in the analysis, several were common to both levels of schooling. The factors associated with youth significantly likely to not complete either level of schooling were: living in the northeast and western regions of the country, being male, and residing in urban areas. Among all the factors considered, household wealth status was strongly associated with non-completion at both levels of schooling. Compared to the richest households, youths from the poorest households were 1.7 and 4.3 times more likely not to have completed primary and secondary levels of schooling, respectively. The results suggest that structural factors, particularly household wealth and region of residence, remain a strong deterrent to the completion of education in India, particularly the secondary level of schooling. Innovative approaches are needed to address this issue.