Agricultural Research Management Information System

Home
Research Summary
Search
About Us
- ARMIS
- Brochure
Contact Us
Report
User Request
Data Input
Help
- Operation Manual
  - PDF
  - Video
- Program Area & Commodity
We have reached 37600 number of research entries at this moment.

- Logout

Research Detail

Home
Research
Detail

Impact of Remittances on Educational Attainment of the Migrant Households: a Micro Level Study

Fahana Tahi Tiza
Department of Rural Sociology, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh.

Kazi Shek Farid
Corresponding Author
Department of Rural Sociology, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh

Lavlu Mozumdar
Department of Rural Sociology, Bangladesh Agricultural University, Mymensingh, Bangladesh.

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

This study aims at understanding the impact of remittances on educational attainment and the gender-specific differences in the educational attainment of the children of migrant households in rural areas of Tangail district of Bangladesh. Primary data were collected through face-to-face interviews with a structured interview schedule. Purposive sampling was used to select 100 migrant households from four villages of two Upazilas in Tangail District. Descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis were used to analyze data. Results find that remittances have a positive significant effect on average years of schooling and tertiary level of education. Remittances contribute more in case of males’ tertiary education compared to that of females. Furthermore, respondents’ perceptions reveal that remittances may improve children’s academic records, while continuation of children’s education is quite impossible without it. Therefore, remittances can assist to the growth of developing countries in the long run ensuring their investment in the advancement of child education.

Keywords: Remittances, Educational attainment, Gender, Migrant households

Location: Sakhipur and Ghatail upazilas of Tangail district, Bangladesh

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Resource Development and Management

Non-commodity: Education, Migration

Objectives:

To understand the impact of remittances on educational attainment and the gender-specific differences in the educational attainment of the children of migrant households in rural areas of Tangail district of Bangladesh.

Methodology:

Sakhipur and Ghatail upazilas of Tangail district were selected purposively as the study areas considering that the region is one of the migrant-prone areas (BMET, 2017). Since the sample population is scattered in a widely dispersed geographical area, some migration-prone pocket areas were purposively selected. Therefore, four villages namely Akander Baid and Baila under Ghatail upaizla and Sakhipur Sadar and Kaharta under Sakhipur upazila were selected. The villages were selected because of large number of migrants which were observed during the preliminary visit in the areas. The sample of the study was the remittance-recipient households who received remittances for at least one year. It was assumed that at least one year was needed for a significant impact of remittances on recipient households. Furthermore, it has been assumed that migrants needed few months to settle in a foreign country and also the impact of remittances would be negligible during the early period of remittance-receiving (Hye, 2017). A total of 100 migrant households were selected purposively from four villages. The study was basically based on primary data which were collected through face-to-face interviews with the heads of the selected households using a pre-tested structured interview schedule. The interview schedule contains some broad questions along with others related to socioeconomic profile of migrant households; amount of remittance, total income, total expenditure, and educational expenditure; years of staying abroad; information regarding children’s education and parental expectation on children education; information related to the productivity of remittance investment on education; etc. Descriptive statistics and ‘multiple regression model’ were used to analyze data. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20 was used for analysis. ‘Multiple regression model’ was used to examine the effects of remittances on educational attainment. The model of educational attainment is a function of remittances and a set of control variables. Family type has a significant positive relationship on child education. So, a dummy variable ‘family type’ was used as a control in the model. Family type was divided into two categories specifically nuclear family system and joint family system. Nuclear family system was given the value 1 whereas the other category was given the value 2 (Nasir et al, 2011). Another important control variable is household size or number of family members. It was selected because it can adversely affect children’s educational performance. An increase in the household size might reduce the per capita income in a household and therefore might reduce the amount allocated for educational attainment (Nasir et.al, 2011, Bouoiyour and Miftah, 2016). Number of earning persons in a household was also used as a control variable by the previous study (Khan and Khan, 2016). Another control variable is parental education. Parental education is also a factor of child education. Educated parents are more likely to place a higher value on their children’s education (Tansel, 2002; Holmes, 2003; Emerson & Souza, 2007; Chaaban & Mansour, 2012). Similarly, parents’ education might have a positive relation with children’s education (Glick and Sahn, 2000; Khan and Khan, 2016). In the same way, educational expenditure is an important variable which may affect child education (Perera and Wijeratne, 2017). Consequently, parents’ average years of schooling and educational expenditure were used as control variables.

Source of Information: Bangladesh Journal of Agricultural Economics, XL 1&2 (2019): 57-68

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

Remittance is one of the largest financial inflows to developing countries. Moreover, it is the most stable and prominent private source of foreign currency in Bangladesh. Researchers, development experts and policymakers have acknowledged the development potentials of remittances but the impact of remittances on educational attainment remains unexplored in Bangladesh. The researcher analyzes the impact of remittances on average years of schooling, as well as on the gross enrollment at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. The study finds that remittances have a positive effect on the average years of schooling and tertiary level of education in the study area. Remittances also can contribute to increase males’ tertiary level of education. For this reason, remittances may contribute more in males’ education compared to female’s education. The mother may feel unsafe to sending their female children. Since a huge number of father migrated abroad and they are significantly contributing in the country’s economy, the government should take initiative to make them safety and relax to sending their children to school. The schools may also have guiding committee to place a proper guiding for their children, even for their mother of migrant household. The study can contribute to the literature resource by investigating this issue, exploring the effects of remittances more specifically to the advancement of education. In addition, such kind of studies can be demanded more and more for making suitable policy guidelines for sustainable economic development to the developing countries like Bangladesh overcoming the ongoing long-term financial crisis around the world. Since the present study covered only two upazilas of Tangail District, a similar study covering different areas of the country could be done for the greater interest of Bangladesh. Another study on remittances could be undertaken taking into account other micro economic impacts.

Knowledge Management: Journal