School Choice and the Guiding Factors: Special Focus on Jharkhand, India

The purpose of this study is to gain insights from the children as well as the parents to understand the factors that guide the choice of school type at higher secondary level of education in India using survey data from 452 households. The results suggest that the household’s socio-economic characteristics, mother’s education level, distance to school, perception of the school’s reputation, and academic quality play a major role in school selection. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first research study that uses qualitative data from both parents and children to understand the reasons behind school choices.