Child Health and Education: The Primary School Deworming Project in Kenya

There are few convincing estimates of the impact of child health and nutritional gains on educational outcomes in poor countries. This study examines the effect of an inexpensive health intervention a school-based deworming program on a range of primary education outcomes in rural western Kenya. The intervention consists of medical treatment for hookworm, roundworm, whipworm, and schistosomiasis: these parasites infect over 92 percent of school-aged children in western Kenya. Among the 75 schools in the study, the selection of schools for assistance was randomized, providing plausible identification of treatment effects. The program is associated with significantly higher school participation in treatment schools (pupils are considered participants if present in school on the day of an unannounced attendance check), especially among girls and younger children. However, treatment is not significantly associated with academic test score performance or grade promotion rates after two years of medical treatment. * Department of Economics, University of California at Berkeley, [email protected]. ** Department of Economics, Harvard University, mkremer @fas.harvard.edu. The authors thank ICS Africa, the Kenya Ministry of Health Division of Vector Borne Diseases, Donald Bundy, and Paul Glewwe for their cooperation in all stages of the project, and would especially like to acknowledge the contributions of Elizabeth Beasley, Simon Brooker, Sylvie Moulin, and Robert Namunyu, without whom the project would not have been possible. Gratitude is extended to the teachers and school children of Busia for participating in the study. Harold Alderman, Caroline Hoxby, and Lawrence Katz have provided valuable comments. The project has received funding from the World Bank and the Partnership for Child Development. All errors are our own.