Impact Evaluation of Burkina Faso's BRIGHT Program

Abstract:

The BRIGHT program was designed to improve the educational outcomes of children in Burkina Faso. It focused on girls in particular and was implemented in 132 rural villages throughout the 10 provinces in the country where girls' school enrollment rates were lowest. The program constructed 132 primary schools with separate latrines for boys and girls and developed a set of interventions to increase girls' enrollment rates, including daily meals, take-home rations, and school kits and textbooks. BRIGHT had a positive impact on school enrollment of about 20 percentage points. It also had positive impacts on math and French test scores. Impacts were positive for both boys and girls.