Role of School-Level and Infrastructural Factors in Shaping Student Performance in India: A Panel Data Analysis
摘要
The quality of school education is a critical determinant of human capital development and economic growth. In India, disparities in school infrastructure, teacher availability, enrollment, and access to learning resources contribute to variations in student performance. This study examines the impact of school-related factors and the availability of infrastructure on the learning outcomes of students using panel data regression analysis. This study employs secondary data from the Unified District Information System for Education Plus (UDISE+). It considers the Learning Outcome and Quality domain of the Performance Grading Index (PGI) as the dependent variable. Independent variables include teacher–pupil ratio, enrollment, teacher per school, enrollment per school, and availability of infrastructure such as libraries, toilets, furniture, drinking water, internet, and computers. Fixed effects and random effects models are estimated, with the Hausman test confirming the appropriateness of the random effects model. The findings show that teacher–pupil ratio and the number of teachers per school have a statistically significant negative effect on the learning outcomes of the student. In contrast, enrollment per school and access to drinking water have a positive impact. The findings highlight the critical role of teacher availability and infrastructure in improving educational quality. This study contributes to the existing literature by offering empirical evidence on the role of school-level factors and infrastructure in shaping the overall performance of students.