Continuing to exercise choice after school selection in Nepal

This paper informs the choice debate by analyzing how parents continue to engage with schooling after their initial selection, using parent survey and focus group data collected in Nepal in 2011. I find substantial heterogeneity within and between public and private schools in how parents engage with their children’s schooling. In particular, the parents who chose smaller private schools had stronger engagement with the school and their children, were more likely to voice their concerns, and consequently were more satisfied. In contrast, parents in below average public schools were highly dissatisfied but had no recourse to action.