Blog Surf
KATHMANDU, MAY 22
Improving literacy is crucial for children to succeed academically and enhance their life opportunities.
While many countries have made significant progress, considerable challenges remain, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Cambodia is one such country where over 50% of children struggle to read or understand a simple story by the end of primary school. Pandemic-linked school closures worsened students already humble prospects for becoming good readers.
To understand what can be done, we carried out an experimental Home-Based Reading intervention in Cambodia, funded through the Results in Education for All Children Program. This randomized controlled trial assessed how literacy and reading habits changed when households received high-quality supplementary reading materials and various levels of parental and child involvement or encouragement to develop better reading habits.
The study targeted Grades 1 and 2 students across three districts in Kampong Thom and Battambang provinces. It included 504 households: 378 across three treatment groups and 126 in the control group. Each treatment group received a different intervention. - blog.wb.org/blogs
A version of this article appears in the print on May 23, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.