Does more schooling infrastructure affect literacy?

This paper studies how the expansion in schooling infrastructure affects the female literacy rate using the Education for All program in India. I exploit the variation in the targeting of the program to educationally and not educationally backward sub-districts. Using regression discontinuity and panel data of all schools in India, I find that there was a significant expansion in the number of girls' schools and residential schools for girls in the educationally backward areas. But being classified as educationally backward did not lead to a significant effect on either the female literacy rate or the gender gap in literacy rate. To achieve a quicker solution to low levels of literacy, alternative cost effective methods compared to large scale infrastructure programs can be explored.