Jan Bietenbeck
Senior lecturer
Preschool attendance, schooling, and cognitive skills in East Africa
Author
Summary, in English
We study the effects of preschool attendance on children's schooling and cognitive skills in Kenya and Tanzania. We use a within-household estimator and data from nationally representative surveys of school-age children's literacy and numeracy skills, which include retrospective information on preschool attendance. In both countries, school entry rules are not strictly enforced, and children who attend preschool often start primary school late. At ages 7–9, these children have thus attended fewer school grades than their same-aged peers without pre-primary education. However, they catch up over time: at ages 13–16, children who went to preschool have attended about the same number of school grades and score about 0.10 standard deviations higher on standardized tests in both countries. They are also 3 (5) percentage points more likely to achieve basic literacy and numeracy in Kenya (Tanzania).
Department/s
- Department of Economics
Publishing year
2019
Language
English
Publication/Series
Economics of Education Review
Volume
73
Links
Document type
Journal article
Publisher
Elsevier
Topic
- Educational Sciences
- Social Sciences Interdisciplinary
Keywords
- Cognitive skills
- Education
- Preschool
- Sub-Saharan Africa
Status
Published
ISBN/ISSN/Other
- ISSN: 0272-7757