The Impact of Early Childhood Education on Child Development Outcomes: Evidence from the Indonesia Early Childhood Education and Development (ECED) Project

Haeil Jung, Indiana University, Bloomington
Amer Hasan, World Bank Group

This paper measures the impact of the Indonesia Early Childhood Education and Development (ECED) project on an array of child development outcomes and enrollment. Using longitudinal data collected in 2009 and 2010 on approximately 3,000 4-year-old children residing in 310 villages located in 9 districts across Indonesia, we compare the outcomes for children living in project villages with those of children living in non-project villages. Difference-in-differences estimates suggest that while enrollment in ECED services increased by 10 percentage points as a result of the project, on average improvements in child development outcomes were relatively small. However, there is clear evidence of improvements in outcomes for children from poor households who had never been to ECED services before the project. We also find that in project villages, the rich-poor gap decreased on many dimensions while in non-project villages the rich-poor gap increased.