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Preprimary Education and Early Childhood Development: Evidence from Government Schools in Rural Kenya

Author

Listed:
  • Pamela Jakiela

    (Williams College
    BREAD
    CGD
    IZA)

  • Owen Ozier

    (Williams College, BREAD, IZA, and J-PAL)

  • Lia C. H. Fernald

    (University of California at Berkeley)

  • Heather A. Knauer

    (University of Michigan)

Abstract

We estimate the impact of preprimary education on early childhood development in a sample of Kenyan three-year-olds. Our identification strategy exploits the fact that children in our sample are more likely to start school at age three rather than at age four if they live within a few hundred meters of the nearest primary school, though other household characteristics do not vary across such small distances. Instrumental variables estimation suggests that enrolling in preschool at age three has large positive impacts on vocabulary in children’s mother tongue, which is the primary language of instruction in preprimary. However, we do not find evidence that these short-term gains translate into persistent advantages in vocabulary or other measures of child development one to three years later.

Suggested Citation

  • Pamela Jakiela & Owen Ozier & Lia C. H. Fernald & Heather A. Knauer, 2023. "Preprimary Education and Early Childhood Development: Evidence from Government Schools in Rural Kenya," Working Papers 661, Center for Global Development.
    • Handle: RePEc:cgd:wpaper:661
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    preschool; early childhood; preprimary education; human capital; school readiness; early literacy; mother tongue instruction; instrumental variables;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O12 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Microeconomic Analyses of Economic Development
    • I25 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education - - - Education and Economic Development
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity
    • H52 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Education

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