Peer-reviewed article
The Cost-Effectiveness of an Accelerated Learning Program on the Literacy, Numeracy and Social-Emotional Learning Outcomes of Out-of-School Children in Northeast Nigeria: Evidence from a Mixed Methods Randomized Controlled Trial
Silvia Díazgranados Ferráns, Jeongmin Lee, Chinedu Ohanyido, Kayla Hoyer, Adane Miheretu ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study evaluated an accelerated learning program for out-of-school children aged 9-14 in conflict-affected Northeast Nigeria using a randomized controlled trial with 1,723 participants. The program cost £66 per child over 7 months and produced small to medium improvements in literacy and numeracy skills but showed no impact on social-emotional learning. The research included subgroup analysis by gender, displacement status, and mother tongue language to identify equity gaps.
Key points
- The program improved literacy and numeracy outcomes with small to medium effect sizes that were statistically significant
- No effects were observed on social-emotional learning outcomes
- The intervention cost £66 per child for 7 months of service
- Subgroup analysis examined differential impacts by gender, displacement status, and mother tongue language
- Nigeria has more out-of-school children than any other country globally, with 10.2 million affected
Limitations
The document does not detail the specific magnitude of effect sizes, the qualitative findings, or the full breakdown of subgroup results. Long-term sustainability and retention of learning gains beyond the intervention period are not addressed.
Abstract
Nigeria is home to more out-of-school (OOS) children than any other country on Earth. More than 10.2 million children match that description throughout Nigeria, a conflict-affected country that grapples with long-standing challenges of entrenched poverty and weak governance. We used a randomized control trial (RCT) with 1,723 out of school children, ages 9–14 (850 treatment and 873 control), to determine the impact of an accelerated learning program (ALP) on the literacy, numeracy and social-emotional learning (SEL) outcomes of OOS children in Northeast Nigeria and gathered qualitative and costing data to determine stakeholder’s experiences with the program and the cost of implementation. Results show that at an average cost of £66 (2018 GBP) per child for 7 months of service, the program had positive, small to medium, and statistically significant effects on children’s literacy and numeracy skills, but no effects on SEL outcomes. We include subgroup analysis to identify baseline equity gaps and the differential impact of the intervention by gender, displacement status and mother tongue language. We discuss limitations and policy and practices implications of these findings.
Findings the Hub has extracted
Each claim below is labelled by its type of design and links back to this report.
- Intervention
- Accelerated learning program providing 7 months of service to out-of-school children aged 9-14
- Population
- 1,723 out-of-school children aged 9-14 in Northeast Nigeria (850 treatment, 873 control); subgroups analyzed by gender, displacement status, and mother tongue language
Key finding
Positive, small to medium, and statistically significant effects on literacy and numeracy skills