Educational inequalities across social groups in India

School enrolment and educational attainment of primary and secondary school-going children in India are estimated by social group, using the India Human Development Survey, 2005. The main findings of this paper are that Muslims as a social group has by far the lowest probability of enrolment and attainment of education as measured by current enrolment and completed years of education, followed by Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes. The ‘social group effect’ is smaller in magnitude for enrolment of children of primary schooling age than for secondary school-aged children; bigger in magnitude for educational attainment of female as compared to male children.