Fumiko Oshikawa, Professor Emeritus, Kyoto University, Japan visited the Foundation for Agrarian Studies (FAS) for three weeks in September-October 2018. Professor Oshikawa is currently working on a paper on literacy and education in rural Bihar. Her study is based on village level data from two villages in Bihar – Katkuian, West Champaran district, and Nayanagar, Samastipur district. These two villages were surveyed by FAS in 2012 and in 2018, as part of the Project on Agrarian Relations in India (PARI). Sanjukta Chakraborty, Senior Data Analyst, FAS, is assisting her in this study.

The preliminary findings from the study were presented by Professor Oshikawa, at the FAS office on October 10, 2018.

The study points out the abysmal levels of literacy in rural Bihar. It also highlights the disparities in the standards of educational attainment in terms of class, caste, and gender. Professor Oshikawa discussed the growth of private schooling in rural areas of the State. The study also reports about the missing link between schooling and occupation in the study villages. Educational attainment appears to have limited impact on the occupation status of individuals. The absence of a strong linkage between schooling and the labour market, she concluded, acts as an impediment to expansion of education in the countryside.