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Published Works
IBA faculty authors a paper on the link between professional training of teachers to increased student enrolment
Dr. Abbas Gillani, Assistant Professor, School of Economics and Social Sciences, and Director Program Offices published his research paper titled 'School-based professional development training of teachers linked to increase in enrolment: evidence from Pakistan'. The research paper falls under the 'W' category and is published in the international journal of Asia Pacific Education Review.
Abstract:
Of the estimated 0.6 million teachers employed at government schools in Pakistan, 43 percent have not received any professional development training. A considerable amount of research has focused on the effects of teachers' psychological characteristics and academic qualifications on subsequent student achievement but there is limited evidence on the related effectiveness of school-based professional development training received by teachers on the educational outcomes of students. By using school-level data between 2013 and 2018 from over 21,000 schools in Pakistan from the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), this paper assays the relationship between the number of schoolteachers who had received professional development training and student enrolment in schools. A fixed effects estimation yields two important results. First, the total number of schoolteachers who received lengthier school-based professional development training had a stronger and larger positive correlation with student enrolment at a school. Second, the total number of schoolteachers who received school-based professional development training had a stronger and larger positive correlation with total enrolment at girls' schools, compared to boys' schools. Future research should focus on the mechanism behind the heterogeneous effects across gender as the literature quantifying the magnitude of such mechanisms is an emerging area of interest.
The paper can be accessed here.
Published Works
IBA faculty single authors paper on correlation of sanitation facilities with student enrollment
Dr. Abbas Gillani, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, and Director Program Offices, has recently had his paper published in renowned journal, World Development Perspectives. His research paper explains the association between adequate sanitation facilities and student enrollment at academic institutions.
To read more: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2452292921000035
Abstract:
Pakistan is the seventh worst country in the world in terms of access to basic sanitation facilities, with 1 in 3 schools in Pakistan lacking basic toilet provision. Evidence shows that quality environment and physical infrastructure is linked with improved educational outcomes, although literature quantifying the magnitude, or mechanism, of how a toilet facility at school can increase school participation is a recent area of interest. By using school-level data of over 17.000 schools in Pakistan from The Annual Status of Education Report (ASER), this paper estimates the relationship between a school having a toilet facility and enrolment at school, between the years 2013 and 2018. We find a school with a toilet facility is correlated with increased enrolment. Gender-wise breakup of results suggests, that for girls only schools, having a toilet facility was linked with a higher enrolment. However, for boys only schools, and for mixed schools, no robust evidence of any such association between a toilet facility at school and enrolment was found. Future research should focus on quantifying the mechanism behind the heterogeneous effects across gender, as toilet facilities potentially serve as a safe space for girls against harassment, assault and sexual violence.
