Overview

The mEducation program aims to improve math skills by delivering math problems via text and providing weekly 20-minute phone tutorials tailored to individual learning levels.

Already lagging in international assessments, the Philippine education sector faced even greater challenges exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, widening the learning gap, particularly for students from disadvantaged households. Stemming learning loss and strengthening learning recovery, particularly in households that lack resources, require innovative and cost-effective strategies that can reach as many families as possible.

In 2021, IPA, in partnership with Youth Impact and the Department of Education (DepEd), implemented a phone-based math program focusing on foundational operations called mEducation. The mEducation program combines elements of Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) and one-on-one tutoring through text messages and phone calls, aligned with DepEd’s priority in strengthening numeracy programs to help learners develop foundational skills and master competencies needed at their level. Given that more than 90 percent of households in the Philippines have at least a basic cellular phone (PSA, 2020), the program fits the local context.
 

From Evidence to Impact

The program, developed by Youth Impact, demonstrated positive outcomes when first implemented in Botswana. To examine its scalability, researchers conducted a randomized evaluation in five countries, with IPA leading the evaluation in the Philippines. The program was implemented for 3,492 students, randomly assigned to one of three groups: a comparison group that did not receive the program, a group that received both phone calls and SMS, and an SMS-only group. Additionally, the program was implemented by both the Philippines Department of Education (DepEd) and IPA to assess its feasibility for government implementation and evaluate whether the program delivery had an impact on its effectiveness.
 

The full mEducation program (SMS + phone calls) in the Philippines boosted children’s learning by 40 percent. The Philippines was among the countries with the biggest impact among the five countries. Government-led implementation of mEducation was equally effective as when IPA implemented it. The program has an average cost of approximately USD 12 per child, yielding 3.4 learning-adjusted years of schooling (LAYS) per USD 100 spent, making it a cost-effective solution to improve children’s educational outcomes.
 

Scaling the mEducation Program
 

5,986	691	240	20
Learners	Teachers	Schools	SDOs

After establishing mEducation as an effective program to improve learning outcomes, IPA started working with schools that expressed interest in implementing it. The goal is to reach more students while maintaining program fidelity. As the program expands, IPA will follow a strategy that starts with a demonstration phase and ends with the program’s ownership transfer to the schools allowing them to implement mEducation with minimal technical support from IPA.

Phase 1: Test and buy-in. IPA will provide full technical support to implement the program, including systems setup, training, and monitoring. Once schools have gone through Phase 1, they move up to the next phase.

Phase 2: Shared monitoring. IPA will support setting up systems and with the training, while program implementation will be co-monitored with school principals or math coordinators. We recommend schools do at least two rounds of program implementation before moving to the next phase.

Phase 3: Technology transfer. IPA will still provide support in systems setup, but partner Schools Division Offices (SDO) will lead the training and monitoring of program implementation.

Other Delivery Models

To sustain the momentum on scaling, aside from continuous partnership with DepEd, IPA is partnering with education NGOs, local government units, and other education organizations to expand the reach of the intervention to support more learners:

• Pilot implementation in BARMM through MBHTE teachers: In response to the need of the BARMM Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education (MBHTE) for evidence-based programs to solve education challenges in the region, IPA will be working with BARMM-MBHTE and UNICEF-BARMM to conduct an 8-week pilot evaluation to assess the impact on learning outcomes and determine cost-effectiveness of the intervention.¹
• Partnering with Universities, Local Government Units (LGUs), and other Non-Government Organizations (NGOs): Aiming to reach more learners without adding more work to the DepEd teachers, IPA is partnering with Universities, LGUs and NGOs that have the same commitment in providing cost-effective education programs to learners. University students enrolled in National Service Training Program (NSTP), LGU scholars, and NGO volunteers will be tapped to serve as mEducation tutors, conducting phone-based tutoring.
• Exploring mEducation with DepEd Alternative Learning System (ALS): Though mEducation was initially piloted with learners from grade 3-4, IPA is exploring how to work with the Bureau of Alternative Education in implementing mEducation to reach learners in ALS, particularly those enrolled in their Basic Literacy Program (BLP).

¹ A 2-week pre-pilot was conducted from Nov 20-Nov 30. Details of the pre-pilot can be found here.