Self-learning at the right level, COVID-19, school closure, and non-cognitive abilities

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated school closures exacerbated the global learning crisis, especially for children in developing countries. Teaching at the right level is gaining greater importance in the policy arena as a means to recover learning loss. This study forms part of an emerging body of work to examine the long-term effects of experimental educational interventions. In particular, we investigate the long-term effects of Kumon’s “self-learning at the right level” program, which was previously found to be effective in the short run in improving both the cognitive and non-cognitive abilities of disadvantaged students in Bangladesh. We revisit these students almost six years after the intervention followed by COVID-19 school closures. The program’s impact on non-cognitive abilities seems to remain perceptible, whereas its effect on cognitive abilities might have been attenuated. This suggests that such individualized self-learning interventions can effectively sustain students’ non-cognitive abilities amid academic disruptions.