Impacts of Road Development on Access to Education: The Case Studies Along Selected Highways in Ethiopia

Abstract

Among basic modes, road infrastructure is an important component of the economy impacting on development and the welfare of the society. The main objective of this study is to assess the impacts of road infrastructure development on the access of education services along Mile-Weldiya, Gendewuha-Gelago and Ginchi-Kachisi Roads in Ethiopia which are 165, 125 and 105 kms of length respectively. The study covers the zone of influence (ZOI) and control zones (COZs) of 0-5 and above 5kilometers respectively. In addition, the researcher employed 392 households considering quasi experimental design (QED) and the data is tested by paired sample t-test and analyzed by using double-difference method. The quantitative analysis of this study has been based on Change theory. Comparisons had been made between current conditions with those before the intervention (temporal) and the project road relative to COZs (spatial). In this regard, the empirical analysis shows that school facilities had been attracted towards the road lines under study. The longer the distance of a household from the study roads lines, the lower is students’ school enrolment. The result also confirms that the literacy rate decreases as one moves from the study roads towards COZs and vice versa.