Primary Outcomes (explanation)
The Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale (GSE) developed by Schwarzer & Jerusalem (1995) will be used to measure the level of self-efficacy among students (Schwarzer & Jerusalem, 1995). GSE consists of 10 items with a 4-point response scale. Responses to all ten items are summed with final score values ranging from 10 to 40: higher score indicates greater self-efficacy. Internal reliability for GSE is between 0.76 to 0.9 Cronbach’s alpha.
Knowledge of financial concepts and the ability to solve simple financial tasks on paper will be measured using a quiz designed by Berry, Karlan & Pradhan (2018) for evaluating similar programs (Berry, Karlan, & Pradhan, 2018). Knowledge of financial concepts will test student awareness on terms such as loans, investment, and functions of a bank. Ability to solve financial tasks will test student’s financial literacy using hypothetical “shop games” in which the child will be given a list of goods and prices and certain among of money, all of which must be spent on the available goods. There will be two “shop games,” and for each game, the index will include an indicator of whether the child correctly allocated the money, the absolute value of the difference between child’s allocation and correct allocation, and the number of seconds taken to respond.
Level of patience will be tested through “gift games” used by Andreoni et al. (2019), wherein students make a series of decisions in which they are asked to choose between a smaller amount of rewards on the day of the test at the end of the day (“at the end of the day TODAY”), and a larger amount of rewards on the week after the experiment (“in ONE WEEK”). The first option represents impatient behavior when the child chooses a smaller sooner (SS) choice, while the second option represents patience signified by choosing larger later (LL) choice (Andreoni, et al., 2019). Similarly, risk preference will be tested through “gift games,” wherein students will be asked to choose between a riskless and risky option for rewards (Alan & Ertac, 2014). Both patience and risk preference levels are associated with financial literacy and life outcomes (Mudzingir, Mwamba, Keyser, & Bara, 2019) (Castillo, Ferraro, Jordan, & Petrie, 2011). Both patience and risk preference tests were administered during the pre-test and saw a high rate of response and variation. Internal reliability for patience test stood at 0.84 and risk preference test at 0.9 Cronbach’s alpha.
The trial will include questions of whether the student makes spending plans every week, their frequency of saving, and the total amount of money saved. Their level of numerical ability will be measured using mathematical tests prescribed by the Annual Status of Education Report (ASER) for students in grades 6 to 8 in India. Students will be first asked to solve two subtraction problems correctly, followed by one division problem. If the student correctly solves the division problem, s/he will be considered as proficient (at division level). If not, the student will be considered as being on an average level (at subtraction level). If the student is unable to solve subtraction problems, s/he will be asked to identify double-digit numbers correctly (at double-digit reading level). Students incorrectly answering double-digit reading level will be asked to identify single digits correctly (at single-digit level), which is considered as having the low numerical ability. Internal reliability for ASER numerical tests stands between 0.92 and 0.94 Cronbach’s alpha (Vagh, 2012).
Student’s knowledge of civil rights and responsibilities will be measured by testing whether the student is aware of concepts such as child and civil rights and responsibilities. The post-test will also include questions on whether students feel the rights are applicable for all socio-economic groups. All the tests will be administered using pen and paper by trained testers in a fixed order to all children.