Beyond Wedlock: Unlocking Opportunities for Education and Empowerment

Last registered on August 09, 2022
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Pre-Trial

Trial Information

General Information

Title
Beyond Wedlock: Unlocking Opportunities for Education and Empowerment
RCT ID
AEARCTR-0004804
Initial registration date
October 01, 2019

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
August 09, 2022, 4:59 PM EDT

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

Locations

Country
Indonesia
Region
East Java
Country
Indonesia
Region
Central Java

Primary Investigator

Name
Gumilang Aryo Sahadewo
Affiliation
Universitas Gadjah Mada
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Other Primary Investigator(s)

PI Name
Milda Irhamni
PI Affiliation
J-PAL SEA
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Additional Trial Information

Status
Withdrawn
Start date
2021-10-01
End date
2023-12-31
Keywords
Education, Gender
Additional Keywords
post-primary education, child marriage, information, female empowerment, adolescent girls
JEL code(s)
Secondary IDs
PPE-1075
Prior work
This trial does not extend or rely on any prior RCTs.
Abstract
The practice of child marriage is still prevalent in several pockets in Indonesia and often leads to discontinuation of post-primary education, particularly among girls. Our proposed intervention aims to reduce the incidence of child marriage and improve post-primary education outcomes by addressing the underlying factors of child marriage: religious beliefs and present bias. An information campaign, which provides an alternative religious view about child marriage and raises awareness about the risks associated with child marriage, will be delivered through short videos shown as intermissions during community movie screenings or religious gatherings. We design a three-arm cluster randomized controlled trial at the school level to test the effectiveness of information campaign and the content of the information campaign. We deliver the intervention via WhatsApp to mitigate the limitations of face-to-face interaction. The impact evaluation will be conducted in Central and East Java, in districts with high incidences of child marriage. The immediate outcomes of interest are perception and attitudes toward child marriage issues, while the long-run outcomes are educational attainment.

External Link(s)

Registration Citation

Citation
Irhamni, Milda and Gumilang Aryo Sahadewo. 2022. "Beyond Wedlock: Unlocking Opportunities for Education and Empowerment." AEA RCT Registry. August 09. https://doi.org/10.1257/rct.4804-1.0
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Experimental Details

Interventions

Intervention(s)
We plan to screen short narrative videos, aimed at changing the viewers’ perceptions and attitudes towards child marriage. First, the videos will provide an alternative religious view delivered by a male religious leader which discourages child marriage, aimed to address societal pressure that is shaped by the perceived religious code.

Second, the short videos are intended to raise awareness about the costs of child marriage and the benefits of delaying such practice. The message about the costs and benefits aims to address myopic preferences toward child marriage. Lastly, the messages in the videos will be delivered through scripted narration to be acted by actors to ensure that messages are accessible to audience from various socioeconomic and educational background.
Intervention Start Date
2021-10-01
Intervention End Date
2022-06-30

Primary Outcomes

Primary Outcomes (end points)
Perception and attitudes towards child marriage (immediate), incidence of child marriage (long-term), rate of high-school completion among girls (long-term)
Primary Outcomes (explanation)

Secondary Outcomes

Secondary Outcomes (end points)
Secondary Outcomes (explanation)

Experimental Design

Experimental Design
Our intervention design includes three treatment arms: control schools A, treatment schools B, and treatment schools C. In the control schools (A), we will only screen a video that conveys health messages about the Covid-19 pandemic. Whereas in treatment schools, we will show the health message video and a short movie. In treatment schools B, the key messages in the short movie address the issue of present bias. In treatment schools C, the key messages in the short movie address the issues of present bias and religious beliefs.
Experimental Design Details
Randomization Method
randomization by a computer
Randomization Unit
school
Was the treatment clustered?
Yes

Experiment Characteristics

Sample size: planned number of clusters
270
Sample size: planned number of observations
2,700 students
Sample size (or number of clusters) by treatment arms
90 schools per cluster
Minimum detectable effect size for main outcomes (accounting for sample design and clustering)
A change in the perception scale by -8.57 percent
Supporting Documents and Materials

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IRB

Institutional Review Boards (IRBs)

IRB Name
Universitas Gadjah Mada
IRB Approval Date
2019-10-25
IRB Approval Number
KE/FK/1272/EC/2019
Analysis Plan

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Post-Trial

Post Trial Information

Study Withdrawal

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Intervention

Is the intervention completed?
No
Data Collection Complete
Data Publication

Data Publication

Is public data available?
No

Program Files

Program Files
Reports, Papers & Other Materials

Relevant Paper(s)

Reports & Other Materials