Reducing early secondary school leaving: experimental evidence on information, tutoring, and incentives from Burkina Faso

Despite major gains in primary school enrollment across low- and middle-income countries, secondary school completion remains low. We conducted a randomized controlled trial in Burkina Faso to evaluate the effectiveness of three interventions designed to reduce early secondary school leaving: (i) information on the economic and health returns to education, (ii) tailored tutoring, and (iii) conditional cash incentives. The cash intervention significantly increased school enrollment, any school attendance, and regular attendance, and reduced the total number of school days missed. Tutoring significantly increased school enrollment, while its effects on regular attendance and academic progression were imprecisely estimated. The information intervention generated limited evidence of impacts, with no statistically significant effects on the primary outcome or academic progression and only marginal evidence of an increase in any school attendance. Financial and academic support can help adolescents who left school early re-enroll, but larger studies are needed to identify which interventions most effectively sustain regular attendance.