A study found that literacy programs for mothers in India can improve their test scores in basic math and also marginally improve their children's math scores. Mothers who participated in programs involving basic literacy classes and activities to engage with their child's education saw an 11 percentage point gain in recognizing single-digit numbers, and their children saw a small gain as well. The programs aimed to reduce educational inequities by targeting learning both at home and at school.

1. Maternal Education Programs Could Improve Mothers’ Test
Scores, Child Learning: Study
Literacy programmes for mothers can not only improve their own learning skills but also impact their children’s
education, a recent study hasfound.
During the one-year study, conducted in 480 villages of Rajasthan and Bihar–states with the lowest female literacy
levels in India–mothers with children between ages five and eight were exposed tothree kinds of interventions: Home
learning,participation programmes in their children’s education,and a combination of both.
The results showed an increase of 11 percentage points in mothers who could recognise one-digit numbers for one of
the interventions, and mothers were more likely to be inv olved in their children’s education. As for the children, their
math scores improved marginally as well.
The study was led by Pratham, an education NGO, Cornell University and the Abdul Latif Jameel Pov erty Action Lab
(J-PAL) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Parental education is correlated with higher participation in formal schooling and better decisions to improve child
learning.
Source: The Impact of Maternal Literacy and Participation Programs: Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation in India
Note: ‘No Impact’ refers to no statistically significant impact.

2. About 30% of Indian adults abov e the age of 15 years were illiterate, according to Census 2011, the latest
available data on nationwide literacy. Illiteracy is higher for females (40.7%), and for those from the scheduled castes
(39.6%)and scheduledtribes (48%).
“Even if kids went to school 100% of the time, we are looking at only a couple of hours (of education a day). Several
awake hours of children are spent at home, especially of y ounger children, often with their mother,” said Marc
Shotland,co-author of the study and associate director at J-PAL.
Children from richer households–and with better-educated parents–have a learning advantage even if what they
learn at school is not factored in. It is, therefore, necessary to look to the household to reduce inequities in children’s
education, Shotland explained.
60% mothers learn basicmath, sodo 60% children
The study found that 58% of mothers exposed to both kinds of interventions could recognise one-digit numbers. In
the control group,wheremothers had nosuch exposure,47% showed similar math skills.
As for children, 60% of those whose mothers had the benefit of both interventions were able to recognise one-digit
numbers,as comparedtothe control group (56%),the study found.
For improvements in child test scores, the authors cautioned that some of the impact of the programme could also be
because some children attended classes along with their mothers andparticipated in the home activities.
Source: The Impact of Maternal Literacy and Participation Programs: Evidence from a Randomized Evaluation in India
Note: ‘No Impact’ refers to no statistically significant impact.
How the literacy capsules worked
In the study, villages were randomly assigned to one of four groups between September 2011 and February 2012–one
was a control group of mothers that received no intervention, the second group was exposed to a maternal literacy
programme with daily language and math classes, the third group received home learning to become involved in their
child’s education, and thefourth group had thebenefit of both.
The maternal literacy classes were taught by local volunteers trained by Pratham. For the home learning and
participation programme,trainers were paid Pratham staff.
The average mother attended 25 and 27 classes in the maternal literacy programme and combined intervention,
respectively,with an average attendancebetween three and five days a month out of the 12.5classes held.
Households were successfully visited about 16 times, on average, for the home learning and participation
programmes, and mothers were present during 81% of these visits, as measured during the second half of the
intervention.
Maternal intervention not cost-effective inshort term
An intervention targeting mothers might not be as cost effective to improve child learning outcomes in the short term
as one directly aimed at the child, the authors wrote. The programme cost Rs 500 per mother. What these
programmes doachieve is simultaneous targeting of maternaland child learning levels, they added.
The potential larger and long-term effects of the intervention could not be measured as the study did not have enough
funds tocontinue,Shotland said.
For instance, maternal education could lead to fundamental cultural changes in the household which could have long -
term effects on the child enrolment in school and/or learning. Some of these changes could be seen in the changing
role of mothers in their children’s education.
Mothers in learning groups feel more responsible for child’s education

3. Most mothers in the intervention and control group believed they had a role to play in their child’s education. But
mothers in the maternal learning, home participation, and combined intervention groups were 4.1, 3, and 4
percentage points,respectively,more likely toreport being responsible for their child’s education,the study found.
Researchers found that the interventions did not have a significant impact on the time mothers spent directly helping
children with lessons at home. But they had statistically significant impacts in other respects–on the mother
examining notebooks, talking to their children about school, and talking to others about their children’s studies.
Home participation and combinedintervention showed more mothers helping children with their homework.
Govt. certified 22.7 million literate through SaaksharBharat
In 1998, the government of India launched the National Literacy Mission (NLM), with the aim of making 75% of India’s
population literate by 2007, but fell short of its aims. Still, as many as 127.45million more Indians became literateby
2009. Of them, 60% were females, 23% belonged to scheduled castes and 12% to scheduled tribes, according to
gov ernment data.
In 2009, India launched Saakshar Bharat (literate India) to” further promote and strengthen adult education, specially
of women, by extending educational options to those adults who having lost the opportunity of access to formal
education and crossed the standard age for receiving such education”. The aim was to provide functional literacy to70
million adults in the age group of 1 5 years and beyond,primarily focusing on wom en,and rural areas.
Initially scheduled to end by 2012, the scheme was extended until 2017, covering 410 districts. The goal of the
program was to raise the literacy to 80% and reduce the gender gap in literacy to less than 10%, according to a
gov ernment document.
Source: Census 2011
Between August 2014 and March 2016,the government certified 22.7 million adults as literate, out of the 30.5 million
registered for the programme, according to a year-end review from the ministry of human resource development in
December 2016. There are no recent estimates of nationwide literacy, or independent evaluations, which could be
used tov erify this claim.
For the financial year 2017 -18, the central government allocated Rs 320 crore for Saakshar Bharat, according to a
budget document–an increase of 31.1% from the revised 2016-17 budget of Rs 244 crore.