The Impact of COVID-19 on Primary School Learning and the Role of Community Mobilization during the Pandemic in India

This project studies the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the education and psychological wellbeing of primary school children in the state of Assam, India. It builds on a randomized evaluation conducted between 2018 and 2020, which covered more than 5,500 children enrolled in 200 primary schools and 4,700 caretakers. The study was designed to assess the impact of an innovative educational program that combined an in-school pedagogical component with an out-of-school community-based component. This follow-up study aims to survey the same schools, children, and caregivers to understand whether and how the COVID-19 emergency affected children's learning outcomes and wellbeing, and whether the educational program managed to mitigate some of the negative consequences. Unfortunately, the dramatic evolution of the COVID-19 emergency in the field has significantly complicated the data collection, increasing the cost of the project. This application seeks additional funding to complete the last and most important survey component of the study.