Home vs. School Deworming and Meal Programs: Evidence from Rural Senegal
Résumé
This study uses primary data to assess the impact of deworming and school feeding programs
on pupil’s educational outcomes measured by test scores. In particular we elaborate on
deworming at home vs. school. Relying on Propensity Score Matching and selection
models we find that meals program significantly increase pupils’ test scores. The impact is
more important for pupils who are in schools having association of mothers. Deworming at
school has a positive effect on pupils’ performance while deworming at home has a negative
impact. This result indicates that the use of widely spread traditional deworming medicines
should be discouraged. Among the determinants of test scores, class size displays a U-shaped
relation pointing to the crucial role of group effect in shaping pupils’ knowledge. The impact
of programs does vary depending on the gender of pupils. Policy analysis including costeffectiveness
is also provided.