Naungan Kasih (“Protection through love”) - the effectiveness of a hybrid digital parenting programme to improve children’s educational outcomes in Malaysia

• In Event: Parental engagment in ECD

Proposal

Evidence suggests that in-person parenting interventions can be effective at improving child foundational learning skills. However, scaling up these programs is challenging because of resource constraints. Integrating digital and human-delivered intervention components is a potential solution to these challenges. A pilot study carried out in Malaysia with 151 families in eight preschools in 2024 showed strong promise for the feasibility of a chatbot-led parenting intervention supported by in-person and remote human-led support. Results showed high user engagement and satisfaction with indicative effects for improved positive parenting and children’s educational outcomes.

Following this pilot study, the team is currently carrying out a large-scale cluster-randomised trial with 50 preschools in Malaysia. Teachers in treatment groups preschools were trained to deliver the Naungan Kasih programme to parents of preschool children aged 4-6. The intervention includes an in-person onboarding session, a rule-based chatbot consisting of 8 parenting courses, and six weekly WhatsApp support groups between parents and the teacher. Primary outcomes of the evaluation include positive, playful parenting practices, and children’s literacy and numeracy skills assessed via parent-report, teacher-report, and direct child assessments. Secondary outcomes include child maltreatment, child behaviour problems, and gender-equitable parenting practices. Assessments take place at three time-points: i) at baseline (from June-August 2024), ii) one-month post-intervention (from November-December 2024), and iii) nine-months post-intervention (in August 2025).

764 families (including 764 primary caregivers and 285 secondary caregivers) were recruited during baseline data collection. As of September 2024, implementation is currently taking place. Data cleaning and management of baseline data is underway.

This presentation will focus on the preliminary results of the effectiveness trial, using baseline and one-month post-intervention data. The results will provide valuable evidence for the effectiveness of this low-cost and scalable intervention utilising digital modalities to promote children’s early learning outcomes in this context, and will inform the scale-up of the programme within the Malaysian national preschool system for low-income families.

Author

• Hal Cooper, University of Oxford