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Differential Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Education in Nigeria: Implications for Policy Review
(African Economic Research Consortium, 2024) Omotoso, Kehinde O.; Adewole, Ololade G.; Gbadegesin, Taiwo F.
COVID-19, a World Health Organization (WHO)-declared pandemic and infectious disease caused by coronavirus, adversely affected various aspects of economies worldwide, with over two million fatalities, and millions of individuals and families affected. Like most countries, Nigeria implemented a lockdown policy restricting all movements except for essential services and functions, to contain the virus. This raises questions about the specific shocks, the catalytic trigger, mitigating strategies, emergent e-learning initiatives, and challenges. This paper investigates the various ways through which COVID-19 influenced the education sector in Nigeria. The study adopted a concurrent mixed method to examine the impact of the COVID-19 lockdown on learning activities in Nigeria. It employed the General Household Survey (GHS) panel 2018–2019 Wave 4, the 2020 Nigeria COVID-19 National Longitudinal Phone Surveys (COVID-19 NLPS) and a difference-in-difference method under a natural experiment scenario, complimented by qualitative data collected through organised stakeholder panel interviews across three significant zones: Abuja, Ile-Ife (Osun State) and Port Harcourt (River State). Educational (learning & teaching) shocks emerged due to the lockdown. The paper reports the interconnectivity of shocks that exposed lapses during the COVID-19 pandemic in the governance of the educational system, school environment, home front and learners’ reactive strategies. The variants of the specific shocks and reactive strategies categorically feature multidimensional outlook within the context of private stakeholders (parents and learners) and public stakeholders (education ministry and school administration). The lockdown-induced shock increased the probability of using digital tools to assess learning materials in 2020 compared to 2018/2019, though there was generally low access to digital tools for learning by those affected by the lockdown-induced shock. Several e-learning challenges were identified as many educators were technically deficient due to inadequacy or lack of internet facilities and capacities for new learning styles, android phones/laptops, lack of network coverage or network failures, full subscription to learning platforms such as Zoom or Microsoft Teams not budgeted for, power failure, uneven distribution of new learning facilities during COVID-19 and unpreparedness for the shock. Policy recommendations include the provision of e-learning platforms and projects in schools, and reduction of inequality in the access to e-learning.
Impact of Teacher Qualification and Experience on Early Grade Achievement in Kenya
(African Economic Research Consortium, 2024-08-23) Sitati, Melap; Murebu, Rosemary; Ngugi, Rose; Onsomu, Eldah
The importance of teacher quality on early grade achievement of cognitive skills is the current policy discourse. Teacher quality is a key factor that influences learner’s achievement at all levels of schooling. This paper uses a multiple regression technique on Public Expenditure Tracking (PETs) and Service Delivery Indicators survey data (2014/2015) to interrogate the impact of teacher quality in terms of qualification in teacher training and experience on early grade achievement of cognitive skills in Kenya. Although the study reveals that teacher qualification in terms of training is the single-most important attribute that impacts on learner achievement, there is no significant difference between the teacher level of training on learner performance regardless of the time taken to acquire those qualifications. Interestingly, results showed that learners taught by certificate holders in teaching performed better than the ones taught by diploma holders. Pedagogical training, which is taught at certificate level, for teaching at primary education level is significant in affecting learner performance compared to diploma, yet the latter takes more duration and resources. The evidence also shows that teacher experience significantly affects learner performance especially in reading. However, further research could investigate how different type of school interventions amplify or weaken the effects of teachers on learners’ cognitive skill. The study recommends enhanced teacher professional development, more focus on in-service training on pedagogical skills acquired at the primary certificate level, equitable teacher distribution, and provision of adequate teaching and learning materials in school. It is also important to ensure that newly employed teachers have the required pedagogical skills and that they are provided with adequate pedagogical training programmes.
Rainfall, Human Capital and Labour Market Outcomes: Evidence from Rural South Africa
(African Economic Research Consortium, 2024-08-22) Chakraborty, Kritika Sen; Villa, Kira M.
Rural households rely on several strategies to cope with weather variability, including school-work transitions of adolescents and changes in human capital investments. Using rich longitudinal data from rural South Africa linked with geospatial data on climate indicators, we examined the effect of rainfall realizations on the schooling and work decisions and education expenditures of adolescents and young adults. We exploited the exogenous within-individual variation in exposure to district-level rainfall realizations over age. Our results suggest that current and lagged growing season rainfall increases adolescent human capital investments on the intensive margin among both female and male adolescents. While current rainfall decreased labour market participation among adolescents in non-agricultural households, current rainfall increased female labour supply in agricultural households. We also found that previous-period rainfall positively affected work propensity among all male adolescents. Our results documented schooling and labour supply adjustments among adolescents in agricultural and non-agricultural households, in response to rainfall fluctuations.
The Impact of Women’s Participation in the Labour Market on the Academic Performance of Children in Senegal
(African Economic Research Consortium, 2024-08-22) Ndoye, Mamadou Laye; Atchade, Touwédé Bénédicte
This study sought a better understanding of the impact of a mother’s participation in the labour market, on the academic performance of children in their primary school certificate examinations. The study used a recursive bivariate probit model in order to treat the endogeneity of the variable “mother’s participation in the labour market”. The data used in the study were drawn from the Integrated Regional Survey on Employment and the Informal Sector (ERI-ESI-2018). The results demonstrated that a mother’s participation in the labour market has a negative impact on the academic performance of children in their primary school years. These results inform us of the need to address the challenges faced by working mothers by providing them with the support they need to establish a balance between their professional and maternal responsibilities.
The Effectiveness of Work Linked Vocational Training Programmes in Senegal
(African Economic Research Consortium, 2024-08-22) Lioniel, Mafang; Dumas, Tsambou André; Bertin, Malou Jonas; Gnilane, Diouf Marie Ndeye
The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of work-linked vocational training in Senegal. In order to do so, we focussed on four specific objectives. First, we identified the main factors that promote or limit access to work-linked vocational training by the youth. Second, we evaluated the impact of work-linked vocational training on the income of youth in the labour market. Third, we evaluated the impact of vocational training on access to regular and stable employment. Fourth, we evaluated the impact of vocational training on labour productivity. To achieve these objectives, we used an endogenous switching regression (ESR) model and an endogenous switching probit model. We examined the robustness of the results using propensity score matching. These methodologies take into account observed and unobserved factors, thus enabling us to handle selection and endogeneity problems that may be related to vocational training. They were used to evaluate data derived from the Employment Policy Improvement Survey (EAPE) that was carried out in 2018 in Senegal. The results suggest that the sampled groups of youth that participated in vocational training display characteristics that differ from those of the sampled groups of youth that did not participate in vocational training. The sampled groups of youths who benefitted from training had a probability 19.27 percentage points higher, on average, of accessing a permanent job, and 24.18 percentage points higher of accessing temporary employment. These youth also had a probability 57.8 percentage points higher of accessing stable employment than youth that did not benefit from vocational training.

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