COVID-19’s effect on the supply of schooling services in developing countries

COVID-19 has upended the education sector, with schools closing and shifting to remote instruction. There is increasing concern that in many developing countries where low cost private schools are a large share of the market that COVID-19 closure could lead to a string of permanent school closures and bankruptcies. The researchers study the potential effects of COVID-19 on the private education sector in two countries. The researchers propose working with the governments in the Dominican Republic and Peru to conduct a survey of secondary school administrators and high school student households. The survey results will allow the team to describe the current and future impacts of closures on students’ learning and to document schools’ beliefs of closure. The research team will also measure the awareness about government relief packages that could help private schools to remain viable. Then, the researchers will use the results of the survey to design a randomized control trial that aims at increasing application and access to government aid. The intervention will give schools access to advisers who provide guidance on how to navigate the government aid application process. Lessons from this experiment will shed light on the role of government aid in shaping the schooling market structure in times of COVID-19.