New Evidence on Outcomes of Primary Education Stipend Programme in Bangladesh
MOHAMMAD YUNUS AND SIBANSHAHANA
Abstract
Primary Education Stipend Project, a conditional cash transfer programme, has been in operations since 2003 to increase attendance rate and stem the dropout rate of children from poor and vulnerable households in the rural areas of Bangladesh. This paper evaluates the behavioural impact of conditionality and gender targeting of transfer of fund on the direct and latent outcomes using propensity score estimation method based on a sample of 2,500 households with primary school going children from 125 primary education institutions. Results reveal that the transfer entails an income effect on the share of educational expenses and channeling the stipend through mothers of the students does not directly empower them as women but does empower them as mothers. It appears that two different but mutually reinforcing stimuli—income effect and women educational empowerment effect—lead to favourable educational outcomes of the recipient students.