Language of Instruction as Education Policyand Its Effects on the Socio-economic Outcomes of Young People

Dieudonné Tamfutu Munsi

Research output: ThesisPh.D. thesis

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Abstract

This dissertation consists of four closely related papers. The first chapter describesthe original version of the synthetic control method, the conditions under which it can beconfidently used, and some of the most important recent developments on the topic. Icover extensions of the original method to situations when donor units can contribute to thecounterfactual with negative weights or with weights that do not sum up to one, as well asvarious regression-based modifications that attempt to reduce or eliminate bias. I concludewith a brief discussion of recent approaches to inference in the context of synthetic controls.
The second chapter investigates the effects on educational outcomes of a sudden changein the language of instruction in Rwanda from one non-native language (French) to another(English). This change, enacted in 2008, affected all levels of education without any languagetraining for students or teachers. Using a synthetic control approach, we find that the changein the language of instruction led to an immediate and persistent decline in primary schoolenrollment and to a decline in secondary school enrollment at the time when the first cohortfully affected by the policy would have started secondary school. As a direct consequenceof lower school enrollment, we also find a reduction in the expected number of years ofschooling. We provide suggestive evidence that the decline in enrollment is due to higherdrop-out rates, mostly among students who are old-for-grade.
Given that more education is generally associated with delayed marriage and fertility, thethird chapter explores the causal link between a policy that plausibly reduced educationalattainment in Rwanda and teen fertility. In 2008, Rwanda suddenly changed the languageof instruction at all levels of schooling from French to English, despite the fact that avery small fraction of the population was able to speak English. This led to a significantreduction in primary and secondary school enrollment. Using both a synthetic controlapproach with aggregate data and a difference-in-differences approach with individual-leveldata, we document an increase in teen fertility as a result of this policy. Although moreimprecise, our results also suggest that the effects are larger in urban areas.
While better health has been shown to lead to more education, both in the developedand in the developing world, the causal link from education to health is less clear. Thus,the fourth chapter of this dissertation examines the role of an education policy that presumably reduced educational attainment on the health of young adults affected by the policyand on children born after the intervention. Using aggregate data and a synthetic controlmethod, we find limited evidence of an effect on the health of adults and some evidence ofeffects on the health of children. Our analyses help better understand the determinants ofthe intergenerational transmission of poverty and inequality in the context of a developingcountry.
Original languageEnglish
Awarding Institution
  • University of Southern Denmark
Supervisors/Advisors
  • Trandafir, Mircea, Principal supervisor
  • Daysal, N. Meltem, Co-supervisor
Date of defence25. Aug 2023
Publisher
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 27. Jun 2023

Keywords

  • Language Change
  • Language of Instruction
  • Education Policy
  • Educational outcomes
  • Teen fertility
  • Intergenerational transmission of Health
  • Synthetic Control Methods

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