Impact of Early Childhood School Intervention on Enrolment and Learning Outcomes: Evaluation of a Public Program in India

Nilanjan Bhattacharya, Debayan Pakrashi, Sarani Saha and Soham Sahoo

Journal of Development Studies, 2026, vol. 62, issue 1, 46-67

Abstract: We evaluate the impact of introducing a pre-primary schooling program in government schools in the Indian state of West Bengal in 2013 on children’s enrolment in pre-primary level and subsequent test scores. Using difference-in-differences (DID), triple difference, and synthetic DID methods, we find that the program significantly increased enrolment in the pre-primary sections of the government schools. However, analysing the test scores, we find that after the program’s introduction, both math and reading scores of treated children did not improve compared to the control group. Even in the long run, the rise in pre-primary enrolment did not translate into improved performance of the treated cohorts. We attribute this result to the deteriorating physical and learning infrastructure in the state government schools in West Bengal, compared to the control group, as the program was not complemented by a commensurate improvement in the availability of classrooms and teachers.

Date: 2026
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Working Paper: Impact of Early Childhood School Intervention on Enrollment and Learning Outcomes: Evaluation of a Public Program in India (2023)
Working Paper: Impact of early childhood school intervention on enrollment and learning outcomes: Evaluation of a public program in India (2023)
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DOI: 10.1080/00220388.2025.2510637

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