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

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 wat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Environment and development economics 2024-10, Vol.29 (5), p.359-378
Main Authors: Islam, Md Ohiul, Ghorai, Moumita
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Child mortality
Children
Children & youth
Climate change
Cognitive ability
Cognitive development
Developing countries
Districts
Education
Environmental factors
Heavy metal content
Heavy metals
Households
LDCs
Nitrates
Nitrogen
Pollutants
Pollution control
Rivers
Water pollution
Water quality
Waterborne diseases
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Summary: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.
ISSN:1355-770X
1469-4395
DOI:10.1017/S1355770X24000123