Use of radio to share information for supporting learning during and after a global pandemic: A positive deviance study in rural Uganda

Abstract

This article examines the impact of the first Positive Deviance (PD) study in rural Eastern Uganda conducted during the pandemic. The active interaction and information sharing among stakeholders had been found as a high-impact practice of schools that performed well over other schools in the disadvantaged areas before the pandemic in rural eastern Uganda. We implemented such PD practice through radio talk shows during the pandemic and examined its impact at child, household, and school-levels. The results showed a positive impact on children's performance, retention of pupils, increased learning time at home, and continuous blended learning at school. There was a significant difference in the effect of the radio talk shows on female-headed and male-headed households. Some challenges were also found in gender differences in performance, the lack of school-level initiatives, and equity in provision of private coaching after the pandemic. A further study will be necessary to clarify how parents, teachers, and community members share information more effectively, as the SMS did not work for most parents as an incentive for learning unlike the previous study.