Implementing institution: Pratham Education Foundation
Country: India
Source: IPA
Execution period: 1998 - in progress
Plataforma de Prácticas Efectivas:
Improve reading and math skills to break the cycle of poverty in India through small group tutoring.
Tutorials in small groups to work on reading and mathematics, carried out by female volunteers.
In both literature and mathematics, the program increases student scores by 0.6 SD.
The Balsakhi mentoring program (Balsakhi Remedial Tutoring in India) began in 1998 in Mumbai City and was extended the following year to Vadodara, thanks to collaboration between the NGO Pratham and local governments. Compared to other mentoring programs, the innovation of Pratham’s project lies in the hiring of non-professional mentors, usually young women (balsakhi), who live in nearby communities. Those women must have completed high school to work with children in grades 3 and 4.
The NGO gives the women a standardized road map, and trains them for 2 weeks at the beginning of the school year. On an ongoing basis, a Pratham professional visits the classes to ensure that the activities are running smoothly. Sessions are held daily in groups of 15 to 20 students during class hours. These last about 2 hours, which is equivalent to half a regular day of classes. Through didactic materials and teaching methods close to children, tutorials focus on reading and math. After 2 years of implementation in Vadodara, 77 public elementary schools were reached, half of which had a tutor for grade 3 and the other half for grade 4. In Mumbai, the same year, 122 public elementary schools participated in the program.
Almost a third of India’s population still lives below the poverty line and a large proportion of the poor live in rural areas. The main causes of poverty in these areas are the lack of access to productive assets, financial resources and other services such as health and education. In this regard, it is worth mentioning that the number of illiterates in the country has remained stable since the 1980s, fluctuating between 250 and 270 million people. Among the youth population, the same number declined dramatically from the 1990s (from 64.5 million people to 25 million in 2015) although 30% of 15-29 year olds did not attend formal education. Most of them work in informal jobs in the agricultural sector or in basic services, which are characterized by low incomes and instability.
Between 2001 and 2004, Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA) conducted a pilot evaluation of the Balsakhi program to determine its ability to create positive change in the performance of elementary school students. To this end, 10,138 students were selected to participate in the program in Vadodara in the first year of the study, while in the second year, there were 12,345. The first year, half (group A) received the intervention in grade 3; and in parallel, the other half (group B) received a tutor in grade 4.
In addition, other schools not participating in the program were selected as control groups (C). In the second year, the intervention of group A and B was changed. The comparison of the results of groups A and B with those of group C showed an increase of 0.6 SD, both in mathematics and in the reading test. When comparing the average results of group A with those of group B, a higher result was observed in the second year (0.28 SD versus 0.14). This means that the program has a greater impact by intervening first in grade 3.
One year after leaving the program, children still showed higher capacities compared to those who participated in the initiative (0.1 SD). Given the low costs of the program, which basically correspond to the salary of the tutors (US$ 10 to 15 per month; US$ 2.25 per child per year), the program has high replicability in other areas. In addition, it offers an attractive system for vulnerable women living in nearby communities.
Charts: Impact measured in standard deviations of the intervention group compared to the control group.
Link: https://www.poverty-action.org/study/balsakhi-remedial-tutoring-india
Report: Ver informe
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