ABSTRACT
The story of the book now turns to our fieldwork in rural India and Pakistan, in areas with incomplete school enrolment. We contacted households with very young children over two years, assessed the literacy and other skills of the children, and discussed schooling with the families. This was done in the open air, or using mobile phones even when in the same room, in order to preserve social distancing during the Covid-19 lockdown. Among other things, the results show the impact of schooling on children’s academic and social development. The chapter illustrates why the findings of the last two chapters matter.
