Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Inequality in Bangladesh

Abstract

Education and economic growth have an important relationship. Former education inequality studies found that between groups inequality was lower than within group inequality. This paper aims to investigate the both within group and between groups inequality and interpret inequality among schools and colleges with their performance. This study measures education inequality through analysis of Secondary School Certificate and Higher Secondary Certificate examination results of Bangladesh through Theil index. Analysis shows that inequality among schools at different board decreases over the year. Inequality among colleges shows non-uniform pattern. It is also found that urban areas have higher inequality than rural areas. However, inequality in urban-rural is declining, but the inequality gap between them is mounting.

Keywords: Education inequality, Theil index, inequality within group, inequality between groups, inequality gap.