The project
The project provided free uniforms to all pupils in year 6 of the eligible schools (year 6 pupils are 14 years old on average). The uniforms cost about US$6 each and represent a sizeable expense in a country where GDP per capita is about US$360 (World Bank 2002). The free uniforms acted as a subsidy to education, encouraging continued enrollment. The project's reasoning was that this would prevent some pupils from being drawn towards early sex, pregnancy or marriage. Pregnancy was used as a proxy indicator for unsafe sex.
The impact evaluation results
- The project reduced the likelihood of pregnancy (a proxy for unsafe sex) by 10% or 1.5 percentage points (pp).
- The project increased the likelihood of pupils being confident they can say no to a partner who wants to have sex by 5% (2.6pp), but for girls only.
- The project increased the likelihood of pupils being confident they will never get HIV by 5% (2.6pp), but for boys only.
- The project increased self-reported virginity by 13% (2.3pp), but for girls only.
- The project reduced drop-out rates by 15% (-2.5pp girls; -2.0pp boys).
- The project reduced the likelihood of being married by 12% (1.4pp) for girls and 40% (0.8pp) for boys.
The impact evaluation method
The evaluation used randomized allocation of 328 primary schools to treatment and control groups.
Please refer to the publication (pdf) for more information.
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