Learning Through Living Room Screens: The Impact of an Educational TV Show on Kenyan Children’s Learning and Attitudes

Forthcoming · Journal of Development Economics (conditionally accepted via pre-results review)

A free-to-air literacy TV show in Kenya raised children’s curiosity and, more tentatively, reading comprehension.
SSRN · SSRN (earlier version)

SSRN · SSRN (earlier version)

We present experimental evidence from Kenya on whether educational television improves children’s skills. Using a pre-registered encouragement design with 4,300 primary-school children, we evaluate Nuzo & Namia, a free-to-air literacy show. It raised curiosity by 12% of a standard deviation and, more tentatively, reading comprehension by 9%, with no spillovers to other literacy outcomes. Gains concentrate among children from English-speaking households, so the English-language broadcast may widen existing gaps; we also find suggestive evidence it reinforced traditional gender attitudes. The effects appear to run through the show’s informational content rather than changes in time use or parental investment. At $18.48 per standard-deviation gain in comprehension, the show remains highly cost-effective.