Street smart or school smart? Leveraging working children’s competencies to teach them mathematics

According to large-scale surveys, most children and adolescents in India perform poorly in “abstract” arithmetic (i.e., the arithmetic operations typically taught in school). Yet, those employed in informal markets seem to perform relatively complex arithmetic operations mentally when handling transactions (e.g., to calculate amounts due or change). Is it possible to leverage the skills that these children already have to help them succeed in abstract arithmetic? We propose to conduct two studies to address this question. In Study 1, we will administer a survey to children and adolescents selling in markets in Delhi and Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh to understand why they might succeed at “market” arithmetic, but struggle with abstract arithmetic. In Study 2, we will design a pilot intervention that can help these children use arithmetic beyond the context of market transactions and assess its effectiveness through a randomized evaluation.

*To learn more about key findings from this evaluation read The Untapped Math Skills of Working Children in India:
Evidence, Possible Explanations, and Implications