The Balsakhi Tutoring Program

Summary

The Balsakhi program addressed a structural failure in Indian primary education: students who fall behind early tend to stay behind because instruction is pitched at grade level regardless of actual learning. By pulling struggling students out for targeted instruction from a local community member — rather than a credentialed teacher — the program produced significant learning gains at very low cost (approximately $2 per student per year in some implementations). The two-year follow-up was particularly important: gains persisted even after children moved to schools without the program, suggesting the learning was genuine rather than test-day coaching. The program became a template for what is now called Teaching at the Right Level (TaRL), a globally replicated approach developed by Pratham and evaluated in multiple countries with consistently positive results.

Research question

"Can hiring young community women to tutor struggling students improve learning outcomes at low cost?"

Methodology

Result

Positive

0.14 SD improvement in Vadodara after one year; 0.28 SD in Mumbai; effects persisted two years after the program ended even for students who had moved to other schools

Evidence strength

Strong

Randomized trial, replicated across multiple sites or studies.

Replication status

Replicated