Accounting for repetition and dropout in contemporaneous cross-section learning profiles: Evidence from Rwanda

How much do children learn in a year of school? Longitudinal data that tracks over time is scarce developing countries, and so recent studies estimate learning profiles by comparing the ability people with different amounts schooling, at single point time. Such estimates effect schooling on may be biased upwards not controlling for repetition dropout. In this paper I contemporaneous cross-section Rwanda, using from nationally representative survey 3053 aged six to eighteen. show how adjusting profile total number years enrolled school (accounting dropout), detailed histories, reduces average amount learnt per 60 percent. The Rwanda just too flat, but flatter than previous suggest.