Conflict and Education

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to study the impact of conflict witnessed in Pakistan from 2007 onwards on educational outcomes, particularly pertaining to female education. It consists of three distinct chapters, each focusing on a unique aspect in which conflict affected educational outcomes. The first chapter deals with the first phase of conflict witnessed between 2007 and 2011, and analyses the impact of violence, and the ban on female schooling implemented with it, on enrolment rates. It suggests that although conflict resulted in a decline in overall enrolment rates at primary and middle level, militants were successful in using violence as a tool to deter female education, as enrolment rates for girls declined more compared to boys in areas that witnessed conflict. The second chapter studies the short-term and medium-term impact of conflict on enrolment rates after the end of the first phase of conflict. Results show that although the negative impact of conflict was larger in magnitude on girls than boys in the short-run, enrolment rates for girls recovered in the medium-run to match those of girls that did not witness conflict. However, enrolment rates for boys at middle level continued to suffer in the medium-run, possibly due to the permanent substitution of boys into the labour market. The third chapter examines the impact of conflict on degree choices of students applying to university. We find that students who live in districts affected by conflict are less likely to apply to degrees that require mathematics as a prerequisite, compared to students who live in districts that do not witness conflict. However, a gender-wise breakup of results suggest that this is only the case for degree choices of boys, and not of girls.

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Identifiers

ORCID for Thomas Gall: orcid.org/0000-0003-2257-1405

ORCID for Jackline Wahba: orcid.org/0000-0002-0002-3443

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