Long-Term Evaluation of the IMAGINE Project in Niger

IMAGINE consisted of the construction of "girl friendly" primary schools, with amenities such as separate latrines for boys and girls, a water source, and housing for female teachers in rural Niger, along with complementary interventions. Mathematica conducted a randomized evaluation of the IMAGINE (IMprove the educAtion of Girls In NigEr) project three years after the end the program.

• After three years, IMAGINE raised primary school enrollment by 8.3 percentage points, decreased absences of more than two consecutive weeks by 7.9 percentage points, had a 0.13 standard deviation impact on math test scores, and had no impact on overall French test scores.
• IMAGINE's impacts were greater for girls than for boys. For girls, the project raised enrollment by 11.8 percentage points and raised attendance by 10.6 percentage points, whereas for boys the project raised enrollment by only 5.0 percentage points and attendance by 5.3 percentage points. The difference between the genders was statistically significant for enrollment and attendance.
• For learning, the impacts on math and French test scores for girls were consistently great and statistically significant, whereas there were no impacts for boys. Girls scored 0.11 standard deviations higher than boys on the math test, but differences on the French test were not statistically significant.
• The intervention did not affect children differently based on their families' socioeconomic status.