Burkina Faso:"The School for All Project" JICA-RI to Evaluate its Accomplishment with Economic Experiments

JICA-RI launched a research project in April, 2010 to rigorously evaluate outcomes of the JICA’s technical cooperation "School for All” Project (or "Support to the Improvement of School Management through Community Participation," photo: school facade) in Burkina Faso.

For the public goods experiment, groups of four people, consisting of a school principal, a teacher, a parent of students, another parent who does not send his/her children to school, and/or a member of COGES (the School Management Committee), are formed, and each person is given five 100 FCFA (approximately 17 JPY) coins. The rules of this game are as follows: 1) Each participant can either take these coins for himself/herself, or offer them to the group for public goods. 2) The amount of coins contributed to the group will be multiplied by two, and the money will be distributed equally among the group members.

Through this experiment, we can measure the participants' tendency as to how much money they keep for themselves, and how much they contribute to the group. Thus, we can estimate and compare the level of trust among the people of targeted schools (COGES schools) and non-targeted schools (Non-COGES schools).

In the risk experiment, each participant is given 5 coins again and decides how much to keep and how much to invest in risk. After the decision, they flip a coin, and if the flipped coin faces up, the number of the invested coins is doubled; if it faces down, every invested coin is taken away. The intention of this experiment is to measure the risk appetite, or the amount of risk exposure the participant is willing to accept.

These economic experiments were conducted on almost 800 people at approximately 40 schools –both COGES schools and Non-COGES schools.

Kozuka also met with officials from the INSD and the Ministry of Basic Education and Literacy (MEBA) as well as members of local schools and project staff to discuss the details and processes of the "Panel Survey" and " Child Survey" to be conducted from late January, 2011.

The panel survey, covering all the 279 schools in the Ganzougou Province, will be conducted by interviewing with almost 10,000 people including parents, students, school principals, teachers, presidents of COGES, parents’/mothers' associations, and Village Development Committees.

The survey will gather extensive data on children and their parents, ranging from their basic information including "family structures" and "financial situations," to more specifics such as "health conditions and associated behaviors," "participation in social groups (e.g. farmers' organizations and religious/cultural groups)," "children’s attendance rate," "French literacy," and "how much they like going to school." Data of "number of classrooms in the school," "attributes of teachers," and "COGES activities" will also be collected. For elementary school students in the upper grades, simple math problems such as addition and multiplication will be included.

Kozuka says, "During the trip, MEBA officials, as well as members of local schools, have noted that COGES schools are showing progress in students' attendance rates and the level of community participation. However, in order to confirm the effectiveness of the project in the entire Ganzougou Province, we must utilize and rigorously analyze the data that is currently being collected. As the project is still in its first year, more time would be needed to fully understand its long-term impact."

Related Research Area: Peace and Development, Aid Strategies

Related Research Project: Impact Evaluation Analyses for the JICA Projects