Evidence Generation
Asia
Evidence Generation
Asia
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.
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.
IPA Philippines is seeking implementation partners—such as governments, NGOs, and universities—who are interested in implementing the mEducation program and helping us scale and expand the program to reach more learners who need remediation support. Feel free to download our partnership materials or complete our Partner with Us form to learn more about mEducation.
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14,297 | 1,708 | 570 | 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.
We are partnering with DepEd Schools Division Offices to scale mEducation. Participating schools must enlist at least four teachers from Grades 3–5 to implement phone-based tutoring, integrating the program into existing systems for broader reach and sustainable impact.
To expand the reach of the mEducation program without increasing the workload of DepEd teachers, we are partnering with universities to engage education students as mEducation tutors. These pre-service teachers offer phone-based support to elementary learners, gaining experience while improving student outcomes.
We are collaborating with NGOs that have the capacity to implement and manage the mEducation program in their communities. Leveraging their established local networks and experience in program delivery, these NGOs provide valuable support in extending the program’s reach and ensuring that more learners receive consistent, high-quality guidance.
How Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL) Complements mEducation |
 TaRL is an approach that assesses children's learning levels and groups them accordingly, rather than by age or grade, to better target instruction. TaRL complements mEducation by providing practical, hands-on support to partner Schools Division Offices (SDOs) that are unable to implement mEducation due to limited network connectivity. In late 2025 to early 2026, we piloted the TaRL program with SDO Butuan City and SDO Puerto Princesa, engaging 31 teachers and reaching 387 students. The pilot resulted in a 38-percentage-point reduction in innumerate learners at the endline and a 36-percentage-point increase in learners achieving division-level proficiency. |
The Department of Education (DepEd) formulates, implements, and coordinates policies, plans, programs, and projects in the areas of formal and non-formal basic education. It supervises all elementary and secondary education institutions, including alternative learning systems, both public and private; and provides for the establishment and maintenance of a complete, adequate, and integrated system of basic education relevant to the goals of national development.
Since 2015, IPA has been a key partner of the Department of Education in generating evidence through rigorous evaluation of programs and building the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) capacity of staff.
Youth Impact is an international evidence-based, youth-led organization that designs, implements, and evaluates cost-effective programs in health and education to improve children's lives at scale in Africa and beyond. Founded in 2014, Youth Impact is committed to sharing evidence to inform policies and promote evidence-based practices worldwide, applying entrepreneurial approaches to address social sector challenges and driving meaningful change for young people everywhere.
Since 2021, IPA and Youth Impact have been collaborating on mEducation, where Youth Impact provided research and technical support in setting up the required systems to implement mEducation and assisted in training the teacher. Youth Impact, while scaling mEducation in other countries, is committed to continuing the collaboration with IPA to scale mEducation in the Philippines.
