Cognitive Enrichment and Human Capital: Evidence from a school intervention in Malawi

Last registered on October 31, 2025
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Cognitive Enrichment and Human Capital: Evidence from a school intervention in Malawi
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0017129
Initial registration date
October 28, 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
October 31, 2025, 8:28 AM EDT

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
Uyanga Byambaa
Affiliation
UC Berkeley
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

Additional Trial Information

Status
In development
Start date
2026-01-01
End date
2026-12-31
Keywords
Education
Additional Keywords
JEL code(s)
I21, O15, C93
Secondary IDs
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
Research shows that poverty can hinder cognitive development, particularly in low-income countries where children often underutilize their cognitive potential both inside and outside the classroom. The ability to think critically, make informed decisions, plan strategically, remember information, and reason spatially is fundamental to learning and human capital formation—yet these skills are often underdeveloped in contexts of extreme poverty. Chess offers a promising, engaging, and low-cost means to foster these abilities. As a structured game of strategy and foresight, chess strengthens higher-order cognitive processes through play-based learning. This project will causally evaluate the impact of structured chess instruction on children’s cognitive, academic, and non-cognitive development in Malawi through a multi-arm randomized controlled trial (RCT). The study will involve 12 weeks of structured chess lessons delivered by trained instructors, with an “additional teacher hour” arm serving as an active control to distinguish the effects of cognitive enrichment from those of increased instructional time. Outcomes will include standardized academic tests, domain-specific cognitive assessments, and measures of socio-emotional well-being. This study provides rigorous evidence on whether chess—a cognitively demanding yet scalable and cost-effective intervention—can strengthen foundational cognitive skills and, in turn, improve learning outcomes in resource-constrained educational settings.
External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Byambaa, Uyanga. 2025. "Cognitive Enrichment and Human Capital: Evidence from a school intervention in Malawi." AEA RCT Registry. October 31. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.17129-1.0
Sponsors & Partners
Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
Intervention Start Date
2026-01-12
Intervention End Date
2026-04-02

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
School academic outcomes such as attendance, academic tests, domain-specific cognitive assessments, and measures of socio-emotional well-being
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
The study randomly assigns 40 public primary schools in Malawi to either receive the chess program or serve as controls. Within each treatment school, Grade 4 classrooms are further randomized into three groups: one receives structured chess instruction, another gets an extra hour of teacher-led academic time, and the third has no additional activity. This design allows researchers to isolate the specific effects of chess beyond general classroom engagement. Over 12 weeks, trained instructors deliver two one-hour chess sessions per week, and researchers track changes in students’ academic performance, cognitive skills, and socio-emotional outcomes to assess whether chess can improve learning in a cost-effective, scalable way.
Experimental Design Details
Not available
Randomization Method
The study uses a clustered randomization design to ensure fairness and scientific rigor. Forty public primary schools are randomly assigned to either the treatment group (which implements the chess program) or the control group (which does not). Within each treatment school, three Grade 4 classrooms are further randomized into three study arms: (1) chess instruction, (2) an additional teacher-led study hour, and (3) no added activity. This two-level randomization—at the school and classroom levels—allows researchers to isolate the specific effects of chess while accounting for school-level factors, ensuring that any differences in outcomes can be credibly attributed to the intervention rather than pre-existing differences across schools or students
Randomization Unit
classroom level (clustered randomization)
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
40 school, and 80 clusters (classrooms)
Sample size: planned number of observations
4800 pupils (3200 pupils for some survey outcomes)
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
20 treatment school, 20 control school.
Whitin 20 treatment school, 20 treatment arm 1 classrooms, 20 treatment arm 2 classrooms, and 20 control classrooms.
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
Power calculations assume α = 0.05, power = 0.8, intra-cluster correlation (ICC) = 0.025, baseline–follow-up correlation = 0.4, and 10% attrition. The minimum detectable effect (MDE) is set at 0.2 standard deviations, with a baseline adjustment factor (b) of 0.92 and 90% take-up.
Supporting Documents and Materials
IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
IRB Approval Date
IRB Approval Number
Analysis Plan