EDUCATION ACROSS THE RURAL-URBAN SPECTRUM IN NIGER

Abstract

This paper investigates whether and how key education indicators for children of school-going age differ across rural-urban areas in sub-Saharan Africa. Data from the World Inequality Database on Education (WIDE) reveals that Niger has some of the most pronounced rural-urban gaps for chosen education indicators. Drawing upon nationally representative data from the National Survey on Household Living Conditions and Agriculture, this paper explores explanations for a systematic difference in education outcomes between rural and urban areas in Niger. The study contributes to the existing literature by taking into account the diversity among urban environments and further distinguishing between towns and cities. This study establishes a correlation between three different measures of education outcomes (enrolment, ability to read, and the highest grade obtained) and location and demonstrates how the rural urban gap can be explained by individual characteristics, household characteristics, and presence of a school in a community. The findings suggest that a considerable part of the gap can be explained by differences in household characteristics. The analysis further reveals that while there is a sizeable difference in education outcomes between towns and cities, it seems to be explained completely by selection