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The impact of water quality on children's education: evidence from 39 districts in the Ganges Basin of India

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 May 2024

Md Ohiul Islam Open the ORCID record for Md Ohiul Islam [Opens in a new window]  and
Moumita Ghorai
Md Ohiul Islam*
Affiliation:
Economics Department, University of Nevada at Reno, Reno, NV, USA
Moumita Ghorai
Affiliation:
United Nations Development Programme, New York, NY, USA
*
*Corresponding author: Md Ohiul Islam; Email: oislam@unr.edu
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Abstract

We investigate the effect of water quality on the educational outcomes of children aged 8–11 in 39 districts in five states in the Ganges Basin of India. Using data from the Centre for Pollution Control Board of India and the Indian Human Development Survey (IHDS) 2011–12, we study the effect of water quality in the Ganges Basin on the performance in three test scores. Our evidence suggests that faecal coliform levels in water sources above safety thresholds negatively affect reading and writing test scores. The effects of Nitrate-N and Nitrite-N in the water appear to be weaker compared to those of faecal coliform. The results establish that water pollution caused by excessive presence of faecal coliform is an important environmental factor in determining educational outcomes of children. High levels of faecal coliform in the water could be lowering cognitive abilities of the pollution-affected children through the channel of waterborne diseases.

Keywords

water pollutionwater qualitypollution and educationcognitive abilitieschildren's educationI25Q23J24J13
Type
Research Article
Information
Environment and Development Economics , First View , pp. 1 - 20
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Cambridge University Press

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