Hasan, Amer

Person:
Hasan, Amer

Education Global Practice, South Asia Region

Author Name Variants

Hasan, Amer, Hasan, A.

Fields of Specialization

Early childhood development, Education, Impact evaluation

ORCID

0000-0003-3809-376X

External Links

https://ideas.repec.org/f/pha1384.html

Departments

Education Global Practice, South Asia Region

Last updated:January 12, 2026

Biography

Amer Hasan is a Senior Economist with the Education Global Practice, focusing on the South Asia Region (SAR). His most recent assignment before this was with the Human Capital Project team. He has also been a part of the East Asia and Pacific (EAP) Education team where he worked on Indonesia and China and served as Task Team Leader on both lending and analytical operations. He was the EAP regional focal point for Early Childhood as well as for Disability Inclusive Education. He co-led the 2018 flagship report on the quality of education in EAP entitled “Growing Smarter: Learning and Equitable Development in East Asia and Pacific.” Amer holds a PhD and Masters in Public Policy from the University of Chicago as well as a BA in History from Yale University.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/10986/39174

Full item page

Publication Search Results

Now showing1 - 10 of 31

Nudging at Scale: Evidence from a Government Text Messaging Campaign during School Shutdowns in Punjab, Pakistan
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2026-01-08) Geven, Koen; Tahir, Ayesha; Fasih, Tazeen; Qureshi, Javaeria; Hasan, Amer; Fazili, Sheena; Malik, Rabea; Macdonald, Kevin
Text and voice messages have emerged as a low-cost and popular tool for nudging recipients to change behavior. This paper presents findings from a randomized controlled trial designed to evaluate the impact of an information campaign using text and voice messages implemented in Punjab, Pakistan during the COVID-19-induced school closures. This campaign sought to increase study time and provide academic support while schools were closed and to encourage reenrollment when they opened, to reduce the number of dropouts. The campaign targeted girls enrolled in grades 5 to 7. Messages were sent out by a government institution, and the campaign lasted from October 2020 until November 2021, when schools had permanently re-opened. Households were randomized across three treatment groups and a control group that did not receive any messages. The first treatment group received gender-specific messages that explicitly referenced daughters in their households, and the second treatment group received gender-neutral messages. A third group was cross randomized across the first two treatment arms and received academic support messages (practice math problems and solutions). The results show that the messages increased reenrollment by 6.0 percentage points approximately three months after the intervention finished. Gender neutral messages (+8.9 percentage points) showed larger effect size on enrolment than gender-specific messages (+ 4.3 percentage points), although the difference is not statistically significant. The message program also increased learning outcomes by 0.2 standard deviation for Urdu and 0.2 standard deviation for math. The paper finds a small positive effect on the intensive margin of remote learning and an (equivalent) small negative effect on the intensive margin of outside tutoring. In line with similar studies on pandemic remediation efforts, the paper finds no effect of the academic support intervention on learning. The findings suggest that increased school enrollment played a role in supporting the observed increase in learning outcomes.
Maternal Mental Health and Its Influence on Children’s Early Development: Evidence from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-11-20) Tahir-Chowdhry, Mahreen; Hentschel, Elizabeth; Tomlinson, Heather; Ansari, Amna; Hasan, Amer; Yousafzai, Aisha; Hussain, Naveed
This paper reports on the prevalence of three facets of mental health—depression, anxiety, and parenting stress—among mothers of children ages 0–6 years in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. Data from mother-child dyads were analyzed to examine differences in maternal mental health and early childhood development outcomes by maternal educational attainment, urban versus rural setting, and refugee versus non-refugee status. The analysis finds a higher prevalence of self-reported mental health concerns among refugee, less-educated, and rural mothers relative to non-refugee, more-educated, and urban mothers. Maternal mental health concerns are significantly associated with lower levels of early childhood development. This paper also analyzes how exposure to stressors such as food insecurity, financial insecurity, being impacted by flooding, community crime, discrimination, and domestic violence exacerbate both maternal mental health and child outcomes. The regression analyses indicate a significant and negative compounding interaction of maternal depression, anxiety, and parenting stress on early childhood development for younger (0–3 years) and older (3–6 years) children, even after controlling for stressors and other covariates. Policy improvements are needed that focus on at-risk communities, providing mental health services and reducing exposure to stressors within communities and households.
Ensuring an Equal Start for All Pakistani Children: What Will It Cost?
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-05-06) Alam, Abdullah; Hasan, Amer; Hentschel, Elizabeth
Quality early childhood education improves childhood development outcomes and has long-term implications for school readiness, workforce participation, and economic growth. Despite this, in Pakistan, the net enrollment rate of children ages 3 to 5 in early childhood education was only 31 percent in 2022. This paper estimates the cost of expanding access to early childhood education using an adapted version of the early childhood education Accelerator Costing and Simulation model. Using available administrative data, the paper presents cost estimates for three packages: (i) a business-as-usual package, (ii) a core service delivery package, and (iii) an augmented service delivery package. It considers how these costs might vary using alternate delivery mechanisms, such as community construction and vouchers. To ensure 100 percent net enrollment in early childhood education by 2035, Pakistan must increase the amount of the education budget spent on early childhood education from the existing allocation of 5.3 percent to 10.4 percent by 2035. This means increasing the early childhood education budget from PKR 71 billion (US$0.3 billion) in 2022 to PKR 418 billion (US$1.85 billion) in 2035, suggesting an average annual increase of 14 percent. Using alternate delivery mechanisms, such as community construction and vouchers, the required budget can be reduced to PKR 311 billion (US$1.37 billion) in 2035.
Pakistan – Human Capital Review: Building Capabilities Throughout Life
(Washington, DC, 2023-04-04) Ersado, Lire,; Hasan, Amer; Geven, Koen Martijn; Kathuria, Ashi Kohli; Baron, Juan; Bend, May; Ahmed, S. Amer
Pakistan can realize major economic growth and development by investing in its people and their human capital. But the reality is that Pakistan’s human capital is low and has improved only marginally over the past three decades. Inequalities in human capital outcomes have persisted or widened over time between the rich and poor, men and women, and rural and urban areas and among the provinces. Human capital outcomes are low across the board, with even the most economically advantaged groups in Pakistan having lower human capital outcomes than less economically advantaged groups in peer countries. Pakistan’s Human Capital Index (HCI) value of 0.41 is low in both absolute and relative terms. It is lower than the South Asia average of 0.48, with Bangladesh at 0.46 and Nepal at 0.49. Pakistan’s human capital outcomes are more comparable to those in Sub-Saharan Africa, which has an average HCI value of 0.40. To enhance its human capital, Pakistan should adopt a life cycle approach to building, protecting, and deploying human capital, starting before birth, continuing through early childhood development, and schooling, culminating in increasingly productive employment. This calls for a long-term commitment, recognition of the multidimensional and cumulative nature of human capital investments, deliberate efforts from multiple stakeholders and sectors to build on intersectoral linkages, and a continuity of policies across political parties and governments. Many countries previously at Pakistan’s level of development have managed to precisely do this, even with regional variations and gaps just as large. Pakistan has the tools to implement the recommendations in this report, provide stewardship for human capital investments, and enhance economic growth over the long term. Pakistan’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic has shown that the country can manage complex challenges, despite its institutional constraints.
Do Psychosocial Stimulation, Parental Distress and Early Childhood Education Enrollment Show Different Associations with Early Childhood Development Outcomes for Boys and Girls? Findings from a Phone Survey in Pakistan
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-07-25) Franchett, Emily; Hasan, Amer; Hentschel, Elizabeth; Tahir-Chowdhry, Mahreen; Tomlinson, Heather; Yousafzai, Aisha; Zamand, Mina
This study examined whether psychosocial stimulation, parental distress, and enrollment in pre- primary education had different associations with early child development outcomes for boys and girls in Pakistan. Using data from a nationally representative phone survey in Pakistan, it assessed these relationships for two cohorts of children—those aged 0–35 months and those aged 36–72 months. The study found that among very young children (0–35 months), lower parental distress and higher psychosocial stimulation were strongly associated with better child development for both boys and girls. Girls were more sensitive to higher levels of parental distress and lower levels of psychosocial stimulation than boys. On average, girls in the sample fared worse compared to boys in their developmental outcomes in the context of low levels of stimulation and high levels of parental distress. Among the older age cohort (36–72 months), lower psychosocial stimulation and higher parental distress were each similarly associated with lower child development outcomes, regardless of child gender. Access to early childhood education was associated with better child development outcomes for both genders. The results confirm existing evidence that early learning opportunities in the first six years of life are important supports for promoting early child development for all children and suggest that girls aged 0–35 months in this sample may be uniquely sensitive to psychosocial stimulation and parental distress.
Early Learning in South Punjab, Pakistan: Investigating Child Development and Classroom Quality
(Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-05-07) Seiden, Jonathan; Hasan, Amer; Luna-Bazaldua, Diego
In Pakistan, learning poverty among primary school aged children is estimated to be as high as 77 percent, but little data exist on early learning experiences. This paper describes the state of classroom quality in 1,395 classrooms and the early childhood development status of 8,249 children in a representative sample of 894 public schools in South Punjab, using two measurement tools: The Teach ECE classroom observation tool, which describes the structural and process quality features of classrooms, and the Anchor Items for the Measurement of Early Childhood Development Direct Assessment which reports on early learning and developmental outcomes of children aged 4 to 6 years. The paper finds key gaps in the foundational skills of young children and areas for improvement in both the physical classroom and teaching practices. In examining the relationships between teaching practices and early childhood development outcomes, the analysis finds a strong positive relationship across the areas of process quality and domains of childhood development. Children studying in a high-quality classroom have outcomes that are equivalent to having been in school nine months longer than children of similar ages in an average quality classroom, suggesting that a sharper focus on teaching quality may improve early childhood development outcomes and school readiness. The findings also show that after accounting for teaching quality, degrees and certification are not associated with early childhood development outcomes, but that classes taught by female teachers have better early childhood development outcomes.
Risks to Child Development and School Readiness among Children under Six in Pakistan: Findings from a Nationally Representative Phone Survey
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2022-11) Hentschel, Elizabeth; Tomlinson, Heather; Hasan, Amer; Yousafzai, Aisha; Ansari, Amna; Tahir-Chowdhry, Mahreen; Zamand, Mina
This paper analyzes the risks to child development and school readiness among children under age 6 in Pakistan. Drawing on a nationally representative telephone survey conducted between December 2021 and February 2022, it presents the first nationally representative estimates of child development for children under 3 years of age and school readiness for children 3 to 6 years of age, using internationally validated instruments. The paper examines how risk factors such as parental distress, lack of psychosocial stimulation, food insecurity, low maternal education, no enrollment in early childhood education, and living in a rural area are associated with children’s outcomes. The data indicate that more than half (57 percent) of parents with children under age 3 were distressed and that 61 percent of households reported cutting down on the size of or skipping meals since the start of the pandemic. The data reveal that over half of parents fail to engage in adequate psychosocial stimulation with their child and enrollment in early childhood education is very low (39 percent). The paper finds that child development outcomes decline rapidly as the number of risks increase. Specifically, for children under 3 years, lack of psychosocial stimulation at home and higher levels of parental distress were most significantly associated with lower child development levels. For a child aged 3 to 6 years, early childhood education enrollment and the amount of psychosocial stimulation the child receives at home had the strongest association with school readiness scores.
Simulating the Potential Impacts of COVID-19 School Closures on Schooling and Learning Outcomes: A Set of Global Estimates
(Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the World Bank, 2021-03-17) Hasan, Amer; Azevedo, João Pedro; Goldemberg, Diana; Geven, Koen; Iqbal, Syedah Aroob
This paper presents simulations of the potential effect of COVID-19-related school closures on schooling and learning outcomes. It considers four scenarios—varying in both the duration of school closures and the effectiveness of any mitigation strategies being deployed by governments. Using data on 174 countries, the analysis finds that the global level of schooling and learning will fall substantially. School closures could result in a loss of between 0.3 and 1.1 years of schooling adjusted for quality, bringing down the effective years of basic schooling that students achieve during their lifetime from 7.8 years to between 6.7 and 7.5 years. Close to 11 million students from primary up to secondary education could drop out due to the income shock of the pandemic alone. Exclusion and inequality will likely be exacerbated if already marginalized and vulnerable groups, such as girls, ethnic minorities, and persons with disabilities, are more adversely affected by school closures. Students from the current cohort could, on average, face a reduction of $366 to $1,776 in yearly earnings. In present value terms, this amounts to between $6,680 and $32,397 dollars in lost earnings over a typical student's lifetime. Globally, a school shutdown of 5 months could generate learning losses that have a present value of $10 trillion. By this measure, the world could stand to lose as much as 16 percent of the investments that governments make in the basic education of this cohort of students. In the pessimistic and very pessimistic scenarios, cumulative losses could add up to between $16 and $20 trillion in present value terms. Unless drastic remedial action is taken, the world could face a substantial setback in achieving the goal of halving the percentage of learning poor by 2030.
SMS Girl Data Insights: How Has COVID-19 Affected Support for Girls’ Education in Punjab, Pakistan?
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-04) Geven, Koen; Hasan, Amer; Tahir, Ayesha
This brief presents initial findings from an ongoing phone survey of families in Punjab, Pakistan designed to assess what is happening to girls’ elementary school education during COVID-19. The data used in this brief describe the experiences of 5,898 families in Punjab between August and October 2020. Data have been weighted to make the sample representative of all schools in Punjab. This brief provides information from an on-going survey. Further data is being collected and analyzed. Subsequent briefs will provide updates on these families as we learn more about their experiences. Unless otherwise noted, statistics are based on the full sample of households contacted, 90 percent of which are families with girls in grades 5-7 before the pandemic. Statistics are weighted to make the sample representative of all schools in Punjab and to allow comparisons between boys and girls.
Remote Learning During COVID-19: Lessons from Today, Principles for Tomorrow
(World Bank, Washington, DC, 2021-11-30) Munoz-Najar, Alberto; Gilberto, Alison; Hasan, Amer; Cobo, Cristobal; Azevedo, Joao Pedro; Akmal, Maryam
School closures during COVID-19 (coronavirus) led to an unprecedented global experiment in the delivery of remote learning. This report seeks to assess what lessons can be drawn from experiences of remote learning during COVID-19 in K-12 education, with a focus on low- and middle-income countries. It focuses on the period from March 2020 to October 2021 and addresses the following key questions: 1. Was remote learning during COVID-19 taken up and if so, was it effective That is, did children learn as much as they did during pre-pandemic, in-person learning 2. What lessons can governments derive from this wide-spread experience 3. How might policymakers use these lessons to reimagine learning as schools begin to reopen This report is part of a larger effort led by the World Bank to provide guidance and technical assistance to optimize country effectiveness in the design and execution of remote learning strategies. It has been developed in conjunction with Remote Learning During the Global School Lockdown: Multi-Country Lessons, a qualitative study conducted between May and November 2020 to understand the perceived effectiveness of remote and remedial learning solutions implemented across 17 countries.