Household Choice of Public Versus Private Schooling: A Case Study of Bahawalpur City

Abstract

Government of Punjab is committed to attain the universalization of school education by providing free education and even in a number of districts the free books and through the programs of food for education. The stipends on the subsidized schooling are also part of the policy by Government of Punjab. The rapid increase in enrolment in private schools reflects the partial failure of these schemes and making the target of universalization of school education difficult. The paper examines the household choice of private versus public sector schools as an outcome of child, household and school characteristics by using logit model. Data has been collected from Bahawalpur city through stratified sampling of clusters and random sampling of households. A survey of 627 households having at least one school-going child made the data available. The study found that income of the household, education of the parents, English as medium of instruction in school and distance of public school from the household enhance the preference of private schools. To universalize the school education more public sector schools are required near to the households. The adaptation of English as medium of instruction may increase the school enrolment.

Maternal Health Care Expenditure among Women in Rural Areas of Pakistan

“…16 With minimum suggested rate of < 5% for C-section by WHO, 17 the rates are rising alarmingly worldwide with its determinants being controversial in lower-middle income countries. 18 Our study also showed that rate of C-section in private sector is moreas compared to mothers in public sector, though WHO recommends 5 to 15% C.Sec rate for a comprehensive Emergency Obstetric Care facility.…”

Effect of Socioeconomic Factors on the Choice of Health care Institutions for Delivery Care

“…Studies in India have shown that a high educational level is a significant predictor of choosing a private hospital for delivery care [20], [54]. Similar studies conducted in Pakistan showed that preference to private healthcare facilities for delivery care increases with increasing mothers' education [23], [24]. This study also showed that a woman's educational status enhances her awareness about the quality of health-care services and improves quality consciousness, making them use the best available maternal care services in the district.…”

“…A study in Ethiopia showed that the education of women and their spouses positively influenced maternal health-care utilization in private health-care facilities [22]. A study in revealed that the utilization of maternal health services from private healthcare institutions increases with the increasing education level of women, including their socioeconomic status [23]. Another study in Pakistan also showed the impact of mothers' education on the utilization of private hospitals for maternal care, particularly for delivery [24].…”

“…Primary data for the study were collected using a locally translated structured interview schedule, which was initially developed in English. The interview schedule was prepared based on the validated study instruments used by earlier studies on maternal healthcare utilization in Pakistan [23] and similar studies in other countries [30], [50], [51].…”

An Ethnographic Account of Educational Landscape in Pakistan: Myths, Trends, and Commitments

“…Many ordinary people have been putting great effort into ensuring that their children can access English-medium education (Mitchell, Humayun, & Muzaffar, 2005), mainly because higher jobs are available to those who can speak English eloquently (Rahman, 2002; R. E. A. Khan, Noreen, & Raza 2012).…”