This chapter compares educational politics and practices in China and India to highlight several contexts in which inequalities manifest themselves in developing countries. Inequalities may be matters of access in that different social or economic classes may have different opportunities to attain or to utilize education. Inequalities may inhere between different school systems in investment made or quality of schooling. Inequalities in education may exist between social or economic classes or between urban and rural areas. Human capital theory holds that education improves skills and labor productivity, potentially reducing inequality. But when access to education or the quality of education differs by class or location, existing inequalities can be reinforced.
