Why should we be concerned with education disparities? The short answer is that schooling disparities get translated into income and other social disparities. Inequities, in turn, are known to lead to (a) wasted productive potential and inefficient allocation of resources; and (b) impaired institutional development. Even if there are controversies on what determine schooling outcomes, there is almost no question that people with more schooling, on average, have higher future income trajectories. The clear implication is that schooling disparities, whether in quantity or in quality, get translated into disparities in future income trajectories. This difference in productivity is the basis of the human capital theory.
