Is there a quantity-quality trade-off as pupil-teacher ratios increase? Evidence from Tamil Nadu, India

Developing countries have been quite successful at expanding enrollments in education, especially at the lowe level. But for any given level of efficiency, increased enrollments require increased resources, in order to maintain quality. If these resources aer not forthcoming, the increase in educational quantity may come at the expense of quality. Is there a quantity-quality trade-off and what public policies can diminish it, in the face of strong constraints on public budgets? This paper explores the negative impact of such an enrollment expansion-unaccompanied by increased numbers of teachers-on school conditions and learning, using a cross-district time series analysis of Tamil Nadu, India as a case in point. It examines alternative policies which can be used to avoid such negative effects-by more efficient use of existing public resources and by expansion of over-all educational resources through greater reliance on private management and finance.