Teachers, Schools and Child Development in Benin
Date
2026
Authors
Marius K. Sossou
F. Antoine Dedewanou
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
AERC
Abstract
This study investigates the relative importance of teachers and schools’ effects, with a specific focus on female teachers, on the cognitive skills (math and reading test scores) among the 2nd year primary school pupils in Benin. We use data from the 2014 Program for the Analysis of Education Systems of CONFEMEN (PASEC). Our findings reveal that female teachers demonstrate a positive influence on students' cognitive skills, particularly in math and reading. Furthermore, our analysis uncovers that students with higher math scores benefit significantly from female teachers, particularly female students. We explore the underlying mechanisms of these results, demonstrating that female teachers invest more effort in teaching and employ a mix of traditional and modern teaching practices. These findings have important policy implications, suggesting the need to promote and support female educators in primary schools and to further investigate the specific teaching practices that contribute to improved cognitive skills.