Assessing Opportunities for Solar Lanterns to Improve Educational Outcomes in Rural Off-grid Regions: Challenges and Lessons from a Randomized Controlled Trial
Stojanovski, Ognen; Thurber, Mark; Muwowo, George; Wolak, Frank A.; Harrison, Kat | December 2018
Abstract
Solar lanterns are promoted across rural sub-Saharan Africa to improve both lighting in homes and educational outcomes. We undertake a randomized controlled trial in Zimba District, Zambia, to evaluate whether solar lanterns help children study more effectively and improve academic performance. Our research design accounts for potential income effects arising from the giveaways of lanterns and also “blinds” participants to the study’s purpose. We find no evidence that receipt of a lantern improved performance on important national examinations (even though an ex post statistical power analysis demonstrates that the research should detect economically significant impacts, if present). We also do not observe impacts on self-reported study habits. Several features of Zimba District that are likely to exist in other developing regions appear to drive our results. First, flashlights are the dominant lighting source in rural Zambia rather than traditional options like kerosene lamps or candles. In such environments, solar lights may hold only limited appeal for prospective users. Second, our survey data suggests that other major barriers to educational attainment likely render improved energy access (whether through solar lanterns or otherwise) a relatively unimportant educational input.
Citation
Stojanovski, Ognen; Thurber, Mark; Muwowo, George; Wolak, Frank A.; Harrison, Kat. 2018. Assessing Opportunities for Solar Lanterns to Improve Educational Outcomes in Rural Off-grid Regions: Challenges and Lessons from a Randomized Controlled Trial. © Asian Development Bank Institute. http://hdl.handle.net/11540/9482.Keywords
Examinations
Higher education institutions
Free education
Educational policy
Project finance
Technology assessment
Resources evaluation
Aid evaluation
Economic evaluation
Cost benefit analysis
Public Education
Parent Education
Equity In Education
Educational Policies
Educational Reforms
Quality Education
Quality Education
Levels Of Education
Higher Education Costs
Educational Testing
Educational Surveys
Educational Reforms
Results-Based Monitoring And Evaluation
Public Policy Evaluation
Program Evaluation
Evaluation Criteria
Objective tests
Educational tests and measurements
College preparation programs
College dropouts
Discrimination in higher education
Universities and colleges
Educational accountability
Scholarships
Prediction of dropout behavior
Scholarships
Results mapping
Self-evaluation
Participatory monitoring and evaluation
Educational evaluation
Cost effectiveness
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