Measuring Impact of Socioeconomic Factors on Schooling in Sindh: An Application of Censored Ordered Probit Modeling

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the socioeconomic determinants of child education in Sindh, Pakistan. This study is based on the sample of 50,016 children aged 3-17 years, extracted from the micro-data of Sindh MICS 2018-19. The censored Ordered Probit Model is applied to calculate the impact of different socioeconomic factors on a child's educational attainment. Estimation on an aggregated level (Sindh) explains that gender and urban-rural variables are positively associated with child education means females are more deprived than males, and the children who are inhabitants of rural areas are more deprived more than children of urban areas. The impact of family size on child education is negative and significant. The findings of the urban-rural model show that children of poor households are less likely to get an education, and the family size in rural areas is a significant barrier to child education. The gender-based model identifies household economic status and area of residency (urban) are major sources of gender disparity. The model of big cities and the rest of Sindh explains that poverty and residence (rural) are the main causes of regional disparity.