DVD-Based Distant Learning

Title:

DVD-based Distance-learning Program for University Entrance Exams: Experimental Evidence from Rural Bangladesh (with Hisaki Kono and Yasuyuki Sawada)

Working Paper:

DVD-based Distance-learning Program for University Entrance Exams: RCT Experiments in Rural Bangladesh (With Yasuyuki Sawada and Hisaki Kono)

Media Mention: TBS TV Channel in JAPAN

Synopsis:

Bangladesh is one of the very few countries that is very close to reach the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of achieving the universal primary education as the net primary education enrollment rate of Bangladesh has reached from 62.9% in 2000 to 98.7% in 2013 according the current Annual Sector Performance Review (ASPR 2014). Similar success has also been observed in secondary school enrollment and reducing the gender disparity in the education sector in Bangladesh, which is a noticeable improvement comparing with the South Asian neighbors like India and Pakistan. The combined effort from donors, international organizations and pro-active government policies has contributed substantially to achieve this remarkable progress.

However, little or no effort has been designed to improve the enrollment into the tertiary education in Bangladesh. The current trend shows that the gross enrollment rate at higher education institutes (at tertiary level) is only 10%, which is one of the worst in the world (World Bank 2013). The problem is even more pronounced in the rural areas where enrollment rate for tertiary education is much lower compared with urban areas, where the opportunity is limited and the quality of secondary education is questionable (Mujeri 2010). Moreover, to get admitted into universities, students have to sit for admission tests for each universities which are highly competitive and require particular training to make a success. Preparation centers, so called “prep schools” or “coaching centers”, private ventures to provide dedicated training for university admission tests do exist in Bangladesh. However, such coaching centers are rarely interested to extend their services to the rural areas due to reasons like low demand and difficulties to provide quality training in the rural set-up. In addition, the fees required by these coaching centers are quite expensive which are often beyond the affordability level of rural households.

Motivation:

To solve this demand-supply gridlock, an innovative approach has been introduced by Atsuyoshi Saisho (Japan) and Abdul Matin Sheikh (BakBon Foundation, Bangladesh) with an active collaboration of UCC university admission coaching, a leading prep-school of Bangladesh, which is termed as “e-education”. Under this intervention, e-education team has video-recorded the lectures of experienced teachers of the UCC coaching and displayed these lecture series in laptops with the relevant lecture notes and materials to interested rural students of Chandpur, one of the conservative and backward districts of Bangladesh. DVD lectures have several advantages, which could potentially address some of the pressing issues faced by the rural students. Firstly, it ensures the quality of teaching, as the recorded videos are of the experienced lecturers who have been giving these training for years. Secondly, it addresses the concerns of low performing students, as one could repeat the lectures as many time as required. Finally, it addresses the teachers’ incentive problem, as in rural areas teachers’ absenteeism is often cited as one of the reasons for lower education achievements by the students. To understand further the impact of e-education on rural students of Bangladesh, who could not otherwise prepare efficiently for the university entrance exam, researcher from University of Tokyo (Yasuyuki Sawada), University of Kyoto (Hisaki Kono) and Institute of Development Economies (Abu S. Shonchoy) got engaged in a series of rigorous evaluation using randomized controlled trial method, the current gold standard technique employed in the academia.

Impact:

Under this method, we randomly assigned interested and similar candidates (based on observable criterions) in one of the two groups of DVD lectures or without DVD lectures. We found that the DVD lecture series increased the admission to the top universities by 13%, and the admission to any tertiary institution by 16%. We also found that some non-cognitive abilities such as conscientiousness contributed to increase the impact of the DVD lectures, which is consistent with the idea that improving academic achievement requires the complementarity of quality educational aids as well as individual effort.

Conclusion:

This finding has potential future implications not only limited to university entrance exam or Bangladesh context, but also a wide range of applications for the education sector of the developing countries in the world. DVD lectures could potentially help students, especially at the secondary level, as it could complement the class-room learning and could enhance the quality of education which is a significant problem addressed by the education experts. Moreover, it could help to solve the disparity of education between rural and urban areas and would help students to achieve the required skills to enhance their human resources which in the future could lead to better income opportunities hence may reduce poverty. Although poor infrastructures like lack of electrification and limited access to computer are still major obstacles for the wide adoptability of such interventions in the developing countries, however, combined efforts from government and aid agencies could address these issues on a priority basis which will eventually help them to achieve economic growth.

Reference:

World Bank. (2013). “Seeding fertile ground: education that works for Bangladesh”. Washington DC ; World Bank.