Abstract
Almost 1 billion adults worldwide are unable read or write in any language, with an estimated cost of US$ 5 billion annually to low-income countries (UNESCO 2020). This is of particular concern in West Africa, which has some of the lowest education indicators in the world. In Niger, the subject of our study, adult illiteracy rates are estimated at 70% (USAID 2023). Illiteracy is particularly striking in rural areas and among women. Niger’s ranking in terms of educational attainment is comparable to other Sahelian countries, namely Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali (UNDP 2017).
While policymakers and academics alike have focused on primary and secondary education programs, such programs will only have impacts in the medium to long-term. Adult education programs have the potential to bridge these gaps and yield more immediate returns, but are often “characterized by low attendance, high drop-out, limited skills attainment and rapid skills depreciation (Aker et al 2024). This is potentially due to high opportunity costs for adults, the irrelevancy of such skills in daily life, poorly-adapted pedagogical approaches and teacher absenteeism.
The growth of information technology has offered new opportunities to address some of these constraints, either by providing learners with greater flexibility during the learning process (Ksoll et al 2023, Angrist et al 2022), allowing students to practice outside of class or affecting the returns to education (Aker et al 2012).
Our solution is a mobile phone-based adult literacy program. It will build upon platform originally developed for native Spanish-speakers in the US (Cell-Ed). The platform uses voice, audio and SMS to deliver literacy lessons (micro-modules). Each micro-module has three components: 1) a short audio lesson on a particular concept (letters, syllables, words); 2) a SMS reinforcing the voice lesson; and 3) a SMS-based interactive quiz on the lesson. To activate the program, participants send a SMS to a pre-arranged phone number. Students can access the program 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, allowing them to learn when, where and how they wish.
This research will test the impact of this innovation in Niger, targeting low-literate adult men and women in the Dosso region. We will test the platform in Hausa, one of the primary indigenous languages in Niger. Across 105 villages, we will stratify by geographic area and randomly assign villages to have access to the platform (which involves training on how to use it, and access to a facilitator) or none. There be two types of treatments, described below. We will also cross-randomize individual motivation messages.