Teacher Training and HIV/AIDS Prevention in West Africa: Regression Discontinuity Design Evidence from the Cameroon

Abstract

We assess the impact on teenage childbearing as well as student knowledge, attitudes, and behavior of a typical HIV/AIDS teacher training program in the Cameroon. Applying a regression discontinuity design identification strategy based on the key administrative criterion that determined program deployment, we find that 15–17 year old girls in teacher training schools are between 7 and 10 percentage points less likely to have started childbearing, an objective proxy for the incidence of unprotected sex. They are also significantly more likely to have used a condom during their last sexual intercourse. For 12–13 year old girls, the likelihood of self‐reported abstinence and condom use is also significantly higher in treated schools, while the likelihood of having multiple partners is significantly lower.