Education systems regularly face unexpected school closures, whether due to disease outbreaks, natural disasters, or other adverse shocks. In low-income countries where internet access is scarce, distance learning—the most common educational solution—is often passive, via TV or radio, with little opportunity for teacher-student interaction. In this paper we evaluate the effectiveness of live tutoring calls from teachers, designed to supplement radio instruction, using a randomized controlled trial with 4,399 primary school students in Sierra Leone. Tutoring calls increased engagement in educational activity but had no effect on mathematics or language test scores, whether for girls or boys, and whether provided by public or private school teachers.
This paper was originally published in September 2021 under the title Teaching and Testing by Phone in a Pandemic. It was updated in September 2022. The original version can be viewed here.
Read an accompanying qualitative background paper here.
