Digital Skills Training for TVET Teachers in Rwanda

Last registered on November 19, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Digital Skills Training for TVET Teachers in Rwanda
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0016844
Initial registration date
November 16, 2025

Initial registration date is when the trial was registered.

It corresponds to when the registration was submitted to the Registry to be reviewed for publication.

First published
November 19, 2025, 2:11 PM EST

First published corresponds to when the trial was first made public on the Registry after being reviewed.

Locations

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Primary Investigator

Name
Rajshri Jayaraman
Affiliation
ESMT Berlin
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
On going
Start date
2023-09-26
End date
2026-04-01
Keywords
Education
Additional Keywords
Digital skills training, teacher training (TVET), EdTech, behavioral nudge, course completion Rwanda
JEL code(s)
C93, I21, J24, D83, O15
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
In a large scale RCT, we evaluate the impact of an online digital skills training certification for TVET teachers in Rwanda on teacher digital skills knowledge, teaching practices, and their students’ test scores. In addition, we investigate the impact of randomized motivational nudges and an unplanned incentive payment on course progress.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Jayaraman, Rajshri. 2025. "Digital Skills Training for TVET Teachers in Rwanda." AEA RCT Registry. November 19. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.16844-1.0
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
1. Online digital skills training certification course for TVET teachers, comprising basic digital skills and E-teaching skills.
2. 10 ~weekly SMSs sent to different recipients: master trainers, school managers, or directly to teachers themselves.

In addition, non-experimental incentive payments were disbursed to master trainers by the training service providers, at fixed time points, based on teachers' training completion.
Intervention Start Date
2024-08-05
Intervention End Date
2025-11-15

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
- digital skills test performance
- use of digital skills in teaching
- students test performance (conditional on availability)
- course progress
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
We test two experimental interventions and account for one quasi-experimental intervention.
1. Digital skills (DS) training: Stratified, cluster-randomized, phase-in design
- Strata: Region (4 regions + Kigali)
- Cluster: TVET school
- Treatment group: received training in basic digital skills and Ed-tech in 2024-25.
- Control group: will receive training after completion of the endline survey, in 2026.
- Master Trainers are assigned to groups of TVET schools to support teachers during their training.
- Each TVET school has a School Manager.
- Training in the treatment group is conducted in two cohorts: one in 2024 and one in 2025. This is necessitated by capacity constraints of Master Trainers. Note that assignment to cohorts within the treatment group is non-random.

2. Behavioral nudges:

Cohort 1
- Cluster-randomized design.
- Cluster: Master Trainer
- Intervention: 10 messages sent via SMS on a ~weekly basis (with breaks over holidays), over the course of the training period. SMSs comprised a combination of reminders, suggestions and motivational messages.
- Treatment 1: Master Trainer receives messages
- Treatment 2: School Manager receives messages
- Control group: No messages

Cohort 2
- Cluster-randomized design.
- Cluster: TVET school
- Treatment group: Teachers receive the same motivational messages as in Cohort 1.
- Control group: No messages

We note that incentive payments to Master Trainers based on their teachers' course progress may attenuate the effect of the experimental nudges and must be accounted for, based on their timing.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
Randomization done in office by a computer.
Randomization Unit
1. DS training randomization unit: TVET school
2.1 Cohort 1 nudge randomization unit: Master Trainer
2.2 Cohort 2 nudge randomization unit: TVET school
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
1. DS training intervention: 454 TVET school clusters
2.1 Cohort 1 nudge intervention: 68 Master Trainer clusters
2.2 Cohort 2 nudge intervention: 179 TVET school clusters
Sample size: planned number of observations
~8,000 units
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
1. DS training
- Treatment arm: 228 TVET schools
- Control arm: 226 TVET schools
2.1 Behavioral nudges
Cohort 1:
a. SMSs sent to Master Trainer : 23 Master Trainers
b. SMSs sent to School Manager : 23 Master Trainers
c. No SMSs sent: 22 Master Trainers
Cohort 2:
a. SMSs sent to TVET teachers: 86 TVET schools
b. No SMSs sent: 93 schools

Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
ESMT IRB
IRB Approval Date
2023-03-01
IRB Approval Number
23-001
Analysis Plan