Access to school, educational attainment and reproductive behavior in rural Bangladesh

Mazharul Islam, University of Dhaka

This study examines how access to school affects the educational attaiment of girls and their subsequent reproductive reproductive behaviours in rural Bangladesh. The data comes from the 2004 Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey. The data indicates that the access to education for females remains still inadequate in rural Bangladesh, although in recent years it shows increasing trend and many programme have been under taken to promote female education in Bangladesh. There is a strong relationship between access to high school and educational attainment among the girls in rural Bangladesh. The study demonstrates how female education, especially secondary and above (6 grade and above), is associated with later age at marriage, desire for smaller families and increased use of contraception, enhancing women's choices in the process of family formation and decision making. Females are disproportionately disadvantaged with regard to literacy and typically attend school for shorter intervals than male.