Enlightening communities and parents for improving student learning: Evidence from Niger

Abstract

Providing local communities with the authority to manage school grants is a popular education policy in the developing world. However, recent studies suggest that this type of intervention has limited impact on student learning outcomes as such communities do not have adequate capacity to utilize resources. To investigate how communities can effectively utilize school resources, we conducted a randomized experiment in Niger. Communities and parents were provided with information about student learning together with school grants. They also participated in discussions about how communities and schools can work together utilizing the grants and communities’ own resources. After the intervention, the communities increased activities that enhanced student effort, and parents increased their contribution to school activities and engagement in children's learning at home. As a result, student test scores improved by 0.43 standard deviations in math and 0.20 standard deviations in French. The impact was largest for the lowest-performing children.