Presented by Qaiser Khan, Lead Human Development Specialist, SASHD
Chair: Julian Schweitzer, Sector Director, SASHD
Bangladesh started a program of incentives to encourage girls to attend secondary schools fifteen years ago. The country is now starting to reap the benefits of this investment. After a decade of stagnation, the total fertility rate in Bangladesh took a dip in 2004 (DHS survey). The paper shows that this reduction is a demand-led reduction (as opposed to the earlier program-driven reduction) and driven largely by mothers with secondary schooling whose fertility rates are half of the average. Similarly, with regard to malnutrition -- the most difficult MDG outcome indicator in South Asia -- the paper finds that mothers' secondary education has the major impact while wealth does not except at the extremes of the income distribution. These results reinforce the policies pursued by the democratic governments since the early 1990s. The implication is that as more and more mothers have secondary education, child malnutrition -- the most stubborn MDG indicator in South Asia -- will be reduced sharply. Similarly, the recent downward dip in fertility after a decage of stagnation is likely to be sustained as the proportion of secondary educated mothers increases among women of child-bearing age.
Presentation
 "Reaping the Benefits of Girl’s Secondary Education in Bangladesh – Impact on Fertility and Malnutrition" (92kb pdf)
by Syed Rashed El Zayed, Yaniv Stopnitzky and Qaiser Khan
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