Providing Life Skills Training and Mentoring to Reduce School Dropout Among Girls in India

After two years, girls who participated in the GEP were less likely to drop out of school, were more likely to progress to subsequent grade levels, and demonstrated better life skills related to agency, socioemotional support, and goal-setting than girls in the comparison group. GEP had no impact on other life skills (e.g., employment or educational aspirations and self-esteem), school attendance, or test scores.

School dropout and progression: Girls in the GEP group were 4.1 percentage points less likely to have dropped out of school by the end of seventh grade compared to girls in the comparison group, where the dropout rate was 13.2 percent (a 31.1 percent reduction). The same girls were also 4.2 percentage points (4.9 percent) more likely to progress to seventh grade. Using administrative records collected through the start of ninth grade (1.5 years after the intervention ended), researchers found that the reduction in dropout held steady at around 25 percent across grades eight and nine. This remained consistent even as girls reached a common dropout point at the transition to high school.  In addition, the dropout reduction is concentrated among girls with a high chance of dropping out, suggesting that GEP may have been most impactful for girls that were particularly vulnerable.

Researchers posit that girls in the GEP may have been less likely to drop out because they felt more supported and connected. Girls in the GEP group reported having more friends and spending more time socializing, and these stronger friendships may have raised girls’ expectations about the benefits of attending school given they would have their friends’ company.

Life skills: Girls in the GEP group also showed improvements in several life skills domains six months after their final seventh grade class relative to girls in the comparison group. They expressed more concrete future goals and clearer plans to achieve them and more equitable views about how boys and girls should be treated, indicating shifts in gender norms. Girls in the GEP group also reported greater empowerment. This included a 17 percent increase in perceived say over school attendance decisions, a 29 percent increase in the probability they feel they are the sole decision-maker about the type of work they will do, and a 32 percent increase in the likelihood of talking to their parents about marriage.

The program also shifted girls’ expectations around marriage: girls in the GEP group were more likely to cite 18 as the appropriate marriage age. They were less likely to select ages below or above 18 compared to the comparison group, reflecting the curriculum’s emphasis on 18 as the legal and appropriate minimum age of marriage.

Academic performance: GEP had no impact on school attendance, time spent studying, or scores on standardized tests administered by the researchers. Researchers propose that this may reflect girls’ stronger social support structures in the GEP group. For example, an increase in social support may have made it easier to miss school, as friends could help them catch up on missed assignments, thus offsetting increased inclination to attend. Similarly, increased socializing at school may have diverted attention away from academics, potentially offsetting improvements in academic performance that could have arisen from greater motivation.

Even without improvements in test scores, continued enrollment can still be valuable. Staying in school helps girls build human capital, potentially delay early marriage in a place where child marriage is common, and strengthen their social ties and life experiences. These findings suggest that a school-based life skills program can reduce dropout and improve life skills among adolescent girls in settings where girls face gender disadvantages.