Regional Disparity in Primary and Upper Primary Level of Education of Paschim Medinipur: A Block Level Analysis

Educational development especially at primary and upper primary level is instrumental factor for eradication of illiteracy and regional development of any region. Educational development means overall status of education in terms of access, infrastructure and outcome, etc. The present study considers fourteen (14) indicators for an assessment of educational development in Paschim Medinipur district of West Bengal under four sub-categories i. e. access, infrastructure, teachers and outcome. Educational Development Index (EDI) has been determined by using Principal Component Analysis (PCA). Firstly, levels of educational development index at Primary and Upper Primary have been calculated followed by determination of composite educational development index. The study concludes that the blocks which are located in the eastern and north-eastern part of the district are belong to very high and high developed category in comparison to the blocks of western part of the district.