Assessing the sustainability of government educational reforms through conditional cash transfer scheme: a time series analysis

West Bengal, once a leading educational hub in India, has experienced significant stagnation in its school education system over the past two decades, with progressively declining enrolment rates. To address this issue, the state government introduced the Kanyashree Prakalpa in 2013, a Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) scheme aimed at reducing dropout rates among girls, increasing enrolment in secondary and higher secondary education, preventing child marriage, and empowering women. This study evaluates the scheme’s impact using a time-series analysis, comparing enrolment trends before and after its implementation. The findings reveal mixed outcomes, with government institutions witnessing marginal improvements in female enrolment, while private institutions consistently show higher growth rates. The analysis underscores the need for structural reforms to enhance the quality of education in government schools and ensure the scheme’s long-term success in promoting educational equity and gender empowerment.