Reading Books and Literacy Training Program in Indonesia

This research aims to evaluate the impact of the Government of Indonesia’s “Quality Reading Books for Students” program on students’ reading habits, literacy skills, and teachers’ practices at school, by using a randomized evaluation covering about 1,000 low-performing primary schools in 36 districts in 10 provinces in Indonesia. The intervention consists of 2 parts: the provision of a package of 600 story books tailored to the different reading levels and a centralized training session of 3 days for the headmaster and a teacher. The researchers will use the literacy component of the national assessment, administered yearly to grade 5 students, before and after implementation of the program, to assess the impact on student literacy. They will collect a complementary phone baseline and endline survey to assess book availability and the use of books (440 schools) and conduct qualitative research in 50 treatment schools. They will aim to add a few questions on reading habits in the forthcoming national assessment (endline). Findings will provide evidence on how promoting storybook reading at school can improve reading habits and literacy.