Reading for life: lasting impacts of a literacy intervention in Uganda
Studied the Northern Uganda Literacy Project, an early grade reading intervention for children in grades 1 to 3.
Abstract
The literature provides several examples of programmes that affect educational outcomes in developing country contexts in the short run, but evidence of long-run effects remains scarce. The authors study the Northern Uganda Literacy Project (NULP), an early grade reading intervention for children in grades 1 to 3 with large short-term impacts (1.3 SD in Leblango and 0.7 SD in English). They follow students 8 years after the program began (and 5 years after it ended) and find 55% of the effect remains in Leblango and 79% remains in English. These effects represent 4.4 extra years of Leblango learning and 1.5 extra years of English learning compared to the control group. They find no spill over effects on math or sexual behaviour. The control group exhibits dismal grade progression and retention both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. While the NULP had no impact on attendance or remaining in school, it modestly improved grade progression.
This paper is part of the J-PAL Post-Primary Education Initiative.
Citation
Buhl-Wiggers J and others. ‘Reading for life: lasting impacts of a literacy intervention in Uganda’ Research on Improving Systems of Education (RISE), 2023
Links
Reading for life: lasting impacts of a literacy intervention in Uganda (PDF, 515 KB)