Working Paper
Impact of the right to education on school enrolment of children with disabilities

I evaluate the impact of the right to education from the passing of the Right to Education Act in India in 2009. This Act guaranteed free education to children aged 6–14 years, including children with disabilities.

Given that the school participation deficit associated with disability is large, I provide results that are a relief to policy-makers. I use an event study estimation and an interrupted time series research design and find that the Right to Education Act led to a 60 per cent increase in schooling among children with disabilities within three years. The estimate is driven by enrolment across all grades. I also provide suggestive evidence that the estimate is not driven by an increase in the number of schools or in disability-friendly ramps within schools.