Institution-Level Educational and Vocational Support in Selected Child Care Institutions in Tamil Nadu, India: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background: Education and vocational preparation are important components of residential child care. Institution-level service reports can describe provision but do not directly measure children’s educational attainment or readiness for adulthood. Objective: To describe reported educational and vocational support and examine institutional characteristics associated with higher recorded-support categories in a purposive sample from Tamil Nadu, India.

Methods: Data from 118 institutional sites were audited against original questionnaire responses. Five educational and five vocational items were summed into separate 0–5 indices and a combined 0–10 index. Study-specific cut-points defined low, moderate and high categories. Six institutional characteristics were included in multivariable ordinal logistic models. The educational model was restricted to exploratory supplementary reporting because the proportional-odds assumption was violated.

Results: High educational, vocational and combined support categories occurred in 13 (11.0%), 9 (7.6%) and 12 (10.2%) sites, respectively. Ongoing staff training was associated with higher vocational support (AOR 7.55, 95% CI 2.71–20.99) and combined support (AOR 7.50, 95% CI 2.74–20.52). Non-NGO management was also positively associated with both outcomes. The vocational staff-training association weakened when the general availability item was omitted in a raw-score sensitivity analysis.

Conclusions: Broad recorded-support packages were uncommon in this sample. Associations depend on measurement choices and should be interpreted as exploratory institutional patterns, not causal effects or child outcomes. Heterogeneous score components and possible shared-organization clustering limit inference.