The impact of life skills education on socio-emotional development and school-related outcomes among adolescents in India.

Background: The Magic Bus India Foundation (MBIF) Life Skills program, known as the Childhood to Livelihood (C2L) program, aims to build life skills among adolescents aged 11 to 15 years. This three-year program focuses on education, gender equality, and socio-emotional skills development. The study evaluates both short-term and long-term impacts of the program on school-related outcomes and socio-emotional skills, providing insights into its effectiveness across multiple sites in India.

Methods: Data were collated from five study sites with a pre-post cohort research design. Baseline data were collected at the start, midline data at 18 months, and endline data at three years. The study used harmonized data across projects, with a sample of 1898 children for short-term analysis and a larger sample of 5582 children for long-term analysis. The empirical strategy involved panel data analysis using multiple linear regression models to evaluate program effects on outcomes such as school attendance, self-efficacy, resilience, and gender attitudes.

Results: The short-term analysis showed significant improvements in school attendance, aspirations, and socio-emotional skills among participants. On average, the C2L improved egalitarian gender attitudes by 0.6% points and perceived self-efficacy by 4% points in the short-run. Over the long-term, there was an average increase of 2.5 points in perceived self-efficacy, 1.1 points on resilience, and 0.45 points in egalitarian gender attitudes. The odds of regular school attendance increased by 66.5% points.

Conclusions: The C2L program has a positive impact on both educational and socio-emotional outcomes among adolescents. The findings suggest that life skills interventions can effectively enhance school attendance, self-efficacy, resilience, and gender attitudes. These results have important implications for policy, indicating that integrating socio-emotional learning (SEL) programs in school curricula can contribute to better educational and developmental outcomes for adolescents in resource-constrained settings.