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PHREE Background Paper Series

Document No. PHREE/89/15

Improving Women's Educ:tion in Sub-Saharan Africa:A Review of the Literature

byKarin A. L Hyde

(Consukant)

Education and Employment DivisionPopulation and Human Resources Department

May 989

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FOREWORD

This paper is one of a series of papers that review thefactors influencing women's education in developing countries. Thepapers were commissioned for a project in the Population and HumanResources Department on the determinants and consequences of improvingwomen's education. The review papers examine the importance of family,school and community factors and of education policy in increasing theparticipation of girls and women in school and improving theirachievement levels. They draw on the findings of a large number ofpublished and unpublished studies of individual researchers, on Bankpolicy analysis and research, and on published reports of otherorganizations and of governrents.

It is widely recognized that education is a critical factor inimproving opportunities for women and in achieving development goals.Yet many girls and women in Third World countries face serious obstacleswith respect to obtaining education. These barriers must be understoodin order to fashion effective policies and programs to raise theireducation levels. It is hoped the review papers will contribute toimproving that understanding.

Elizabeth M. KingEducation and Emplcjment Division

Population and Human Resources Department

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am grateful to Peter Kim and Gilbert Valverde for researchassistance. Peter Kim and Frank Norfleet assembled some of the tables.Matte Shayne and the staff of the Melville J. Herskovits Library of AfricanStudies at Northwestern University provided invaluable assistance.Discussions with Josephine Beoku-Betts and Nelly Stromquist were stimulating.Several useful suggestions came from John Craig, Gail Kelly, Robert Willis,Marie Thourson Jones, Michael Brien and Elizabeth Hyde.

Participants in the University of Wisconsin-Madison African StudiesSymposium, 'Women and Education in Africa," November 1988, provided manyuseful insights. This paper was commissioned by Elizabeth King of theEducation and Employment Division, Population and Human Resources Departmentof the World Bank, Washington, D.C.

This paper reviews studies published since 1980 on factors

affecting the participation of females in formal education. The aim is to

identi-.y factors, summarize strategies and suggest policies that could

improve female education in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Markedly different patterns of enrollment are evident from country

to country, and government policies on the rate of progression from primary

to secondary school affect retention rates. There is no clear connection

between overall levels of enrollment and the representation of females in

school: countries with both low and high levels of enrollment showed evidence

of both relatively equitable and inequitable female participation. Dropping

out results from both individual/familial and institutional decisions.

Background characteristics such as socio-economic status, parental education,

region of residence and religion appear to be more important for girls than

boys.

Possible strategies for improving female educational participation

include increasing school places through more flexible and efficient use of

school resources, raising the number of female teachers, addressing teacher

attitudes, widening curriculum options for girls, and reducing the demand for

child labor. Non-governmental organizations could become more important in

the provision of education to spread the burden and increase coverage.

Avoidance of administrative and fiscal policies that negatively affect the

opportunities for female schooling and/or employment is also recommended.

Finally, more research is needed in those countries not represented

in the studies reviewed, as well as a more detailed examination of the

processes through which girls in all countries are put at an educational

disadvantage.

TA3LE OF CONTENTS

EXECUTIVE SUHNAY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1Framework for Educational Participation . . . . . . . 2

CHAPTER II: LITERATURE SURVEY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Enrollment, Attaitment and Wastage . . . . . . . . . . 10Achievement and Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36

CHAPTER III: RECOMMENDATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

APPENDIX 1: A METHODOLOGICAL NOTE . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

APPENDIX 2: SEARCH STRATEGY ...... .. . . .. . . . . 52

RERNCES ........................ . 53

SUPPLENENTARY BIBLIOGRAPHY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

List of Tables

Table 1: Primary Enrollment 11Table 2: Secondary Enrollment 12Table 3: Tertiary Enrollment 13Table 4: Primary School Retention Rates, CA. 1970-80 15Table 5: Primary Level--Percentage Repeaters by Grade 17Table 6: Fertility, Economic Growth, Labor Force and

Literacy 23Table 7: Age by Which 50% of Women and Men Have Ever

Been Narried, by Rural/Urban Residence 27Table 8: Tertiary Level--Total Percentage Female,

Percentage by Field of Study, Latest Year 30Table 9: Summary of Effect of Single-Sex Schools on

Achievement 39

EXCUIVE SlUMMAY

Against the backdrop of continuing and increasing fiscal

constraints in Sub-Saharan Africa, this paper reviews scholarly studies

published since 1980 on the factors affecting the participation of females at

all levels of the educational system. The aim is to identify factors,

summarize strategies and suggest policies that could improve female education

in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Following a brief description of a theoretical framework for

examining the issue of educational participation, the paper summarizes

evidence in two categories: first, enrollment, attainment and wastage; and

second, achievement and performance.

Although all countries with the exception of Botswana, Lesotho and

Swaziland had fewer females enrolled than males at every level of education,

markedly different patterns of enrollment were evident across countries, and

government policies on the rate of progression from primary to secondary

school affected retention rates. However, there is no clear connection

between overall levels of enrollment and the representation of females in

school, with countries with both low and high levels of enrollment showing

both relatively equitable and inequitable female participation.

Wastage or dropout results from both individual/familial and

institutional decisions. The family-level factors associated with variations

in the levels of female participation in school include social class,

parental attitudes (agaiut exposing girls to "foreign" influences and

expending resources on girls), levels of parental education and child labor

demands. At the societal level, vi3ws of the female life course (including

earlier marriage), urban residence, percentage of the nation's labor force

engaged in agriculture and government expenditures on education were

identified as being associated with variations in female participation.

School factors identified included school quality (particularly teaching

quality), the lack of role models and teacher attitudes toward the scholastic

abilities and potential of females. Unfortunately, evidence on the precise

mechanisms through which some of these factors operated was usually lacking.

ii -

While factors such as school quality and coeducation appear to have

an effect on achievement, there is variation from country to country and

study to study. In Ghana, one study found that secondary school girls were

over-represented in schools with poor examination results, while in Cote

d'Ivoire they were more likely to be found in academic lycees. In several

studies, the socio-economic status of the parents of girls in secondary and

tertiary levels was markedly higher than those of boys at the same level.

Several studies found that single-sex sehools improved the performance of

girls in secondary schools. However, these schools were likely to be the

most selective with respect to admission criteria, and it is not clear that

co-education by itself lowered the achievement of girls in Sub-Saharan

Africa.

Background characteristics such as socio-economic status, parental

education, region of residence and religion appeared to be more important for

girls than for boys.

Possible strategies for improving female educational participation

include increasing school places through more flexible and efficier. uses of

school resources (including teachers), raising the number of female teachers,

especially for ,masculine" subjects, improving teacher attitudes, widening

curriculum choices for girls, and reducing the demand for child labor through

the introduction of simple technological innovations.

It is also recommended that institutions other than the government

become more central to the provision of education, including the family,

religious organizations and non-governmental organizations in general to

spread the burden and increase coverage. The avoidance of administrative and

fiscal policies that negatively affect the opportunities for female schooling

and/or female employment is also recommended.

Finally, more research is needed in those countries not represented

in the studies reviewed, as well as a more detailed examination of the

processes of educational disadvantage for girls in all countries, recognizing

that the salience and strength of these processes will vary within and across

countries.

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CHAPTER I: INTRODpQoN

One of the most enduring kinds of educational inequality is gender

inequality. Although many countries have made tremendous progress, in no

country do males and females benefit equally from an educational system. In

the poorest and least developed countries, this inequality is revealed in

lower enrollment rates, higher wastage rates or lower levels of attainment

for girls. In many of the richer countries, while there is no significant

difference in the levels of enrollment at the primary or secondary levels,

inequality is apparent in the curriculum choices offered to or made by men

and women at the secondary and tertiary levels,1 most notably in the low

science and technology enrollment figures, low rates of transition to

tertiary education or lower returns to education in the labor market (Harding

1985). Even in countries where it is government policy to encourage women's

entry into the labor fore-e and strenuous efforts are made to see that women

do obtain adequate scientific training, women scientists still find

themselves disproportionately in administrative or low-ranking positions.

Women still bear the major share of child care and housework, and their

careers are often regarded as of lower priority than those of their husbands

(Gordon, et al. 1985).

This paper reviews and summarizes studies that analyze four aspects

of women's education in Sub-Saharan Africa with a view to making research,

policy and action recommendations for increasing female participation. The

four aspects are: (i) the decision to enroll girls in school; (ii) the level

of academic performance of girls once they are in school; (iii) the length of

time girls remain in school and how far they progress; and (1vj the factors

thac lead girls to drop out of school before they have completed a cycle. In

subssquent chapters, these four aspects are referred to as enrollment,

achievement, attainment and wastage/dropout. The findings from the studies

surveyed are used, together with an assessment of government and

international agency policies and a summary of earlier reviews of women's

1 Or more directly, in the economic rewards accruing to the different"choices" made by men and women.

education in the third world to develop a framework for research, policy and

action recommendations.

The next section of this chapter presents a framework for looking

at female educational participation in sub-Saharan Africa while the following

section reviews the framewors for this study. Chapter II contains a

systematic, integrative review of studies published since 1980 that have

attempted to identify factors that increase or decrease female educational

participation. Particular attention is paid to studies that use multivariate

analysis and that statistically control for background characteristics. In

addition, government anSL international agency documents are examined for the

extent to which increasing female participation has been a priority and the

kinds of interventions that are planned or have taken place. Drawing on

Chapter II, as well as on a number of reviews of teacher effectiveness and

women's education in the third world published in the late 1970s and early

1980s, Chapter III presents recommendations for research, policy and action

within the context of the constrained circumstances most African educational

systems face.

Framework for Educational Participation

Decisions to continue in school or to drop out are contingent on

both the decision to enroll and a continuirg reassessment of one's position

in school, assisted by feedback on achievement. This contingent

characteristic of the decisions being made has both theoretical and

methodological implit:ations. The data on cotltinuation rates, on the social

background of students and on labor market activities can only be correctly

assessed when the underlying structure of the process within which these

decisions are being made is clearly understood. There are several points or

decision nodes at which actions can be taken that imply entry into,

continuation through or dropping out of school. Surrounding these decision

nodes are characteristics of the individual, home, community, school or

school system that can moderate, exacerbate or mitigate them.

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At the point of entrance into school, the influencing factors are:

competing activities, including both economic demands on children and social

demands such as becoming ongaged to be married or undergoing initiation

rites; competing ideologies--coumunity disagreement over the mores and values

taught or perceived as being taught within school; and an estimate of the

expected benefits and costs of entering school. The relevant decision-makers

may differ for each of these factors. The family, individual parents, the

community at large and even the child herself will have opinions and face

influences that will have differing weights. In addition, there are

institutional constraints in terms of the supply of places.

While in school, characteristics of the school become more

salient, powerfully influencing the way in which parents or other responsible

adults approach the decision to keep a child in school. At this stage the

child also becomes more instrumental in deciding whether to continue, and

schools make extensive use of suspension and expulsion. Which of these

factors is more important in the rate of dropout? What role do factors such

as gender bias play in retention or teacher expectations? Which are the

public and private roles of female educational achievement accessible to

girls? As a child progresses through school, the costs frequently become

greater, and the relative balance of costs and perceived benefits changes.

Is this factor important in the early dropout of girls? aq the curricular

choices available to girls differ from those offered to boys? What are the

differences, and what are the possible consequences, both short- and long-

term?

Decisions about school exit involve labor market opportunities,

which can be both push and pull factors. If the gains from staying in school

exceed those of leaving, a girl is likely to stay in, and vice-veraa. The

capacity of the school system is critical. Virtually all school systems in

Sub-Saharan Africa expect only a milnority of students to enter the secondary

level, and achievement is a major but not the only factor. Pregnancy and

marriage can precipitate exit, as girls who become pregnant are usually asked

to leave and may experience difficulty re-enrolling even in different

institutions. Marriage can have similar consequences.

Apart from these specific factors, which have an impact at

differant ages and lersls, more general factors can affect decision-making

throughout the school system. They include religion, level of economic

development, language policy, rural/urban residence, the general availability

of schools, and tho social status of girls/women.

Figure 1 is an abstraction of the interwoven structure of decisions

that go into determining whether or not a girl enters school dnd how far she

goes once she has entered. However, it makes plain the interconnectedness of

the outcomes of these declsions, as well as their cumulative nature. It

emphasizes the option of exit not only at the points of entrance or

transition, but at the end of every year, every term and every week. .s

family and school continuously adjust to changing conditions. A further

refinement can be made by adding additional branches at the transition points

to secondary or tertiary levels to indicate options in the types of

institutions girls enter.

ig8ag 1: Decision Structure of Educational Participation

Not Enrolled Leave Leave

Achievement A ievment Achievement

Enrolled Continue Continue Time

Source: Modified from Gambetta (1987).

Frmwrk for the SW&4

It is useful to describe certain features of the framework within

which this study was conducted. First, the natural comparison group for

measures of performance, enrollment, attainment and wastage is boys from the

same environme; & the girls being discussed. This comparisonz can often

highlight specific schooling levels, regions and socio-economic groups in

which females are particularly disadvantaged vis-a-vis education. However,

this comparison can be misleading or inadequate in Pome situations, for

example, that which obtains In LeAsotho, where more women/girls than men/boys

are enrolled at every level of education and in every age group. The

situation is similar in Swaziland and Botswana, although not in as extreme a

form.

Second, the aim of this review and discussion is to develop a

framework for action and intervention. The emphasis therefore is on those

studies and reviews that have attempted to identify the factors responsible

for the largely second-class status of wom^n within the education systems of

Sub-Saharan Africa.

Third, many, if not most, of the issues touched on here are not

"African" issues. Ultimately, the reasons why females are seldom as

well-represented in the education system as males lie completely outside the

systems of education. The inequalities to be discussed simply reveal how

gender equality is expressed in the educatton systems of Africa, but

discussions of the education systems of Europe, Asia and North and South

America would reveal convergent themes. Africa may stand out because it is

the pocrest of the continents with the lowest levels of education, but it is

also the continent that has made the most progress with regard to female

participation2 in the last 25 or 30 years (UNESCO 1983). Ideas about the

appropriate roles for women in the labor market or society, about the

2 Obviously, floor effects are operating here, but it can be arguedthat this progress suggests there is no 'African" intransigence to the ideaof full educational participation for females.

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biological unsuitability of women for science, about the gender-based

division of work in the household (and, in the African context, on the farm),

which surface a number of times in subsequent sections, are familiar to any

reader who has thought critically about the situation of women in any

society. Certainly, income, class, religion and region are familiar

explanatory variables for a variety of sociologically and economically

interesting behaviors in most areas of the world.

Fourth, the emphasis is on formal Western-derived educational

systems at all levels. However, it will be argued later that it is both

necessary and expedient to make use of a range of organizations outside the

formal education sector for the purpose of increasing female levels of

educational participation.

Finally, reference is made to earlier reviews of the literature,

particularly those whose findings seem relevant to the question of wlhat kinds

of intervention are most likely to increase female participation and

achievement in Sub-Saharan Africa. The reviews by Smock (1981) and Kelly and

Elliott (1982) summarized various aspects of educational progress and women's

status. Smock identified a comprehensive list of factors thought to affect

the opportunities for and outcomes of women's education throughout the

developing world; the Kelly and Elliott volume contains a number of essays on

various issues concerned with women's education in the third world. The

reviews by Avalos and Haddad (1979) and Husen, Saha and Noonan (1978),

emanating from the International Developmental Research Centre of Canada

(IDRC) and the World Bank respectively, focused more narrowly on the role of

teachers and teacher training on student achievement in less developed

countries generally, without highlighting African countries specifically.

Given that education is only one of several spheres in which women

are disadvantaged and that Africa is only one continent among several in

tuhich women are disadvantaged within the educational system, a legitimate

pair of questions is why Africa and why education. Africa is, as noted, the

poorest of the continents, both as a unit and on a per capita basis. It has

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the lowest levels of education and combines the lowest population density

with the highest population growth rates. In addition, the economic systems

of many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are at or past the point of collapse.

Thus, while the problems of African educational systems may not be unique,

they are certainly the most acute and require the most urgent, wide-ranging,

innovative and cost-effective interventions.

The choice of education can be defended on a number of grounds.

First, iiu modern times a literate population is a necessary, although

insufficient, condition for development. Communication in a developing

country, while reasonably effective via such non-literate media as radio,

theater and the spoken word, needs the intensive, permanent and repetitive

character that can only come from the written word.

Second, it is very inefficient to select participants on the basis

of criteria (gender in this instance) that have little or no necessary

relationship to success within the system. The argument that the educational

system only mirrors the limitations and constraints that women face in

society because of their gender has only limited validity. Too often the

organizational structure, teaching styles and curricular materials used in

the formal educational system do not merely reflect gender differences but

exacerbate them. The counter-intuitive result of schooling for girls is that

an unequal formal education process can simultaneously increase and

legitimate gender differentiation in the labor market. The contradictions

inherent in this process are seldom confronted directly.

Third, the position of women within the household and within

society often ensures that their education has an immediate multiplier effect

on the lives of their children that men's schooling often may not have.

Despite the arguments presented throughout this paper for extending women's

roles, the fact that women, and not men, bear children will mitigate against

the disappearance of the gender-based division of labor within the household

and of this multiplier effect.

Finally, the four aspects of educational participation (attainment,

achlevement, enrollment and wastage) are Just that.-four different ways of

examining what is essentially the same problem: the lower status of women

within the formal educational system. Moreover, while enrollment,

attainment, achievement and wastage are looked at separately because they can

be measured separately, they are linked statistically in at least two ways.

First, the levels of attainment, performance and wastage are all conditional

on the initial decision of whether to enroll or not. Second, the factors

that affect one affect the others, and, as a result, levels of performance,

attainment and wastage are interdependent. For example, school performance

can lead to a re-evaluation of plans for continuing or dropping out (Mann

1986 for the US; Gambetta 1987 for Italy), although the relationship is not

simple.

I:&rU I>LIUAIU gm=

In this Chapter, a survey of the recent literature is used to

identify factors that appear to hae affected the four aspects of women's

educational particiation in Africa--surollemt, attaint, a v t and

wastAge. nfortunately, the studies did not provide data for a large amber

of countries so that general recmndations are difficult to me As

evidece is presented. the extent to wich it is applicable to other

countries is discussed.

In general. el statistes from Africa are poor and often

outdated. Seldon are they collected In a r that is useful for this type

of gender-specific anlysis. Mm studies suffered from a nber of

deficiencies: girls were seldm anadlyed separately; and sauors

occasitally neglected to use tests of stistcal signficae.

and an appropriate saling e l or adequ controls that would allow

defensible c about tfhe strength and obustness of particular

effects to be drawn. Specific problem are discussed in more detail uhere

the individal studies are examined.

The criteria used to select the studies were as folls. The

studies were to:

1. be empirical, i.e., they used collected data or attempted to

analyze studie that had colleted data;

2. be published sims 1979--a mwmber of extenive revies wre

published around thiLs date and a re-review was not considered

necessary; and

3. treat gender explilcitly.

lb attemt was ade to sample the dentified studies: all studies identifted

and obtabable were exmiled.

The firt section dals with e Irollent, attaunt and =stage and

the second with ahSievemet and ARMee. Both open with a definition of

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the terms and an introduction to the problem, followed by a more specific

discussion of the studies and reports surveyed. The coverage of each issue,

both geographically and with respect to the educational levels covered,

mirrors that of the documents. For example, the studies usually deal with

one level of education in one particular country, and there is virtually no

replication of studies.

Enrollment. Attainment and Wastage

In general, enrollment refers to the initial decision to enter

primary school. However, a few studies (Weis 1981; Eshiwani 1982) deal with

factors that encourage the enrollment of girls in secondary or tertiary

institutions or different types of secondary or tertiary institutions.

Tables 1-3 show the levels of primary, secondary and tertiary

enrollment in Sub-Saharan Africa.3 Twelve of 39 countries apparently had

full enrollment in 1982 or 1983 at the primary level (Togo, Madagascar,

Kenya, Zanmbia, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Swaziland, Mauritius, Cameroon, People's

Republic of Congo, Gabon and Angola). However, only a subset of the

countries in Table 1 appear to have had full enrollment of females in the

relevant age group: Madagascar, Kenya, Lesotho, Zimbabwe, Swaziland,

Mauritius, Congo and Gabon. 4 On the other hand, several countries with high,

but not universal enrollment, appear to have been relatively successful in

extending educational access to gi-ls. This group includes Botswana,

Tanzania and Rwanda.

3 Percent enrolled is the number of children in school at the relevantlevel divided by the number of children in the relevant age cohort. Thepresence of over-age children (and, to a very small extent, under-agechildren) distorts the percentages.

4 There is also regional variation. In Kenya, for example, somedistricts have only 25% female enrollment as a percentage of the whole(Eshiwani 1982).

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Tables : Primary Enrollmuent

Gross Primary Females as aCountries Enrolluant (rale mid FebaleAl Pereentate of XQtal1960 1970 1980 1983 1960 1970 1983

Low-ingom Semi-arldMali 9 22 25 23 28 36 37Burkina Faso 9 13 21 27 29 37 37Niger 6 14 27 26 30 35 36Gambia 14 24 52 68 31 31 38Somalia 7 11 30 21 25 24 36Chadb 17 35 36c 38 11 25 27

Low-income OtherEthiopia 7 16 35 38 24 31 38Zaire 54 88 90 90 27 37 43Malawi 38 36 61 58 36 37 42Guinea-Bissau 24 39 67 62 30 30 33Tanzania 24 34 93 87 34 40 49Burundi 21 30 29 45 24 33 40Uganda 47 58 58 57d 32 40 43dTogo 44 71 123 102 28 31 39Central African Rep. 30 64 72 77 19 33 35Madagascar 56 90 101 1 0 4C 44 46 4 8 cBenin 26 36 64 67d 28 31 33dRwanda 49 68 64 62 31 44 48Kenya 47 58 104 100 32 41 48Sierra Leone 20 34 45 54 34 40 41Guineab 20 33 35 36 26 32 32Ghana 46 64 73 79 35 43 44Sudan 20 38 50 49 27 38 41Senegal 27 41 46 53 32 39 40Mozambique 51 47 75 79 38 34 43

Middle-income Oil IogrterBMauritania 6 14 34 37d 19 28 39dLiberia 36 56 76 70 29 33 40Zambia 51 90 98 100 40 45 47Lesotho 92 87 102 llod 62 60 58dCote d'Ivoire 43 58 75 77 26 36 41Zimbabweb 74 74 88 131 45 45 48Swaziland 57 87 106 111 50 49 50Botswana 39 65 91 96 59 53 53Mauritius 94 94 108 112 47 49 49

Middle-unme Oil ExuortersNigeria0 42 37 98 89 37 37Cameroon 57 89 104 108 33 43 46Congo, People's Rep. 81 130 160 163d 34 44 49dGabon 54 85 115 118d 38 48 49dAngola 17 75 124 134d 33 36 46d

Sub-Saharan Africqe w 36 48 76 75 34 39 44m 38 56 73 77 32 37 42

a Number enrolled as a percentage of the age group. d Figures are for 1982.b Figures are for 1984. e v - weighted mean; m - median.c Estimates.

Source: World Bank (1988).

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_aisr r.00"

Cmutries Maalmtfe.adFm.IPretpof ol1960 i1970J1380 iiii 1960 1970 1983

Nani 1 5 7 7 17 22 28Juthiz rm 1 1 3 4 27 28 34Nier 0.3 1 S 6 17 2J 27Gambla 4 7 13 19 26 24 31Somalia 1 3 11 14 9 16 34

C2!ad~ 0.4 2 4c 6 7 8 15

Ethipi 1 4 9 11 14 25 36Zalie 2 9 34 52 24 22 28

1abu 1 2 4 4 22 27 29GUnea-iBsen 3 a 6 11 40 36 19TamaniLa 2 3 3 3 32 29 35Burui 1 2 3 4 37 20 37Ugada 3 6 7 8d 21 25 33dTog* 2 7 34 24 23 22 25Central African Rep. 1 4 14 16 15 19 26Madagascar 4 12 1 4C 1 5 c 33 40c "CBenin 2 5 16 22d 27 30 28dRwanda 2 2 2 2 35 33 34Kenya 2 9 18 19 32 30 40Sierra leone 2 8 14 15 27 28 28ceineac 2 13 16 1S 10 21 28Gamna 19 42 37 38 27 38 37Sudan 3 7 16 19 14 28 41Smgsl 3 10 11 12 27 29 33Vozambique 2 5 S 6 36 38 30

mkauitania 1 2 10 12d 5 1 24dUberia 2 10 23 21 16 23 29Zambia 2 13 17 17 23 33 36dLesotho 3 7 17 1gd 53 54 GodCote d'Iit,e 2 9 19 20 12 22 29ZiababueC 6 7 8 39 36 39 40SwaziLand 5 18 39 43 45 44 49Botswana 1 7 19 21 48 46 54Mauritius 22 30 48 51 32 40 47

Kiddle- inenMa Oil RDOrteasNtSpriau 3 4 19 23 21 32Camerlo. 2 7 19 21 17 29 38Cong.. People's eep. 4 20 83 87d 28 30 41dGabon 3 8 21 23d 16 29 404Angola 2 8 19 12d 40 42 33d

Sul-Sabaran A u 3 7 16 20 25 31 34a 2 7 14 16 26 29 33

a omber erolled as a percentag of tbe ge griup. 4 Figmes are for 1982.b Fsgres are for 1984. e w - weig "ted mum;c Estimat. D - median.

Sougrce: Vrld Bank (198).

-13 -

Gosks T.Vtiaz F.isIsu as a

196 197 19S0 1983 190 0 18

Kaul IN. 0.2 0.3 0 .9 ).3123urkjm Faso.-. 0.3 0.6 .. 15 22Miller . .0.3 0.5 . 22

somnata *. .4 0.6 0.6 1 31Olae . . 0.54 1.2. -

1aw-inm OtherEthlopia,. 0.2 0.4 0.5 5 8 11zaile 0.1 0.7 1.2 1.2 .. 6 9Ealal . 0.3 0.4 0.4b 2 266

Tasmania .. 0.2 0.3 0'.4 .. 1 17Bolan". 0.2 0.6 0.6 *.6 29Uumna 0.2 0.5 0.5 0. 66 12 18 27bTOW.. 0.5 2.2 1.7 .. 12 15Central Africa. Rep. .. 0.1 0.9 1.2 .. 13 10Madagascar 0.2 1.0 3.1 3*56 23 23jiBmiua. 0.1 1.3 2 .0 17swan"a* 0.2 0.3 0.3 .. 9 14Kenya 0.1 0.8 0.9 0.9 16 1s 19sIer'ra IssOM 0.1 0.5 0.6 0 6 161216

Qdneac ~~~0.6 4.4 3.0 a. 226momn 0.2 0.8 1.5 1.8 1 14 22sula. 0.4 1.2 1.8 2.1b 5 13 276Sm.gal 0.5 1.5 2.8 2.2 17 17 21Eoasadaque . 0.3 0.1 0.1 .4436

*4dd1e-izIEA Oil lbojobMauritania . 0.4 04 ..

LiberiLa 05 0.9 2.9 2. 212226dZambala. 0.4 1.6 I.6 is 1 226lasoth. 0.2 0.4 1.8 2 .2264 gcot. '1,VniOU 0.1 0.9 2.9 2 .6 11 14 g

Zinboboue 0.1 1.2 1.3 2.6 25 42 42Suasi1mw 0.6 3.9 3.0 .. 39 41Botswana . 1.1 1.6 .. 41NMAritius0. 2.6 1.1 0.6 .. 5 30

Mi1-in oilKnotgjgogjC ~~~~0.2 0.5 2.2 2.1 7 I

Cinmeoon . 0.5 1.5 1.6 . 14Coqp, feopl'S Rep. 0.4 1.7 5.6 g.0 7 i4b6.6.. . 0.2 2.2 3.3b 15 26bAngola .. 0.5 0.3 0.4b . 40 G

Sub ShaaAubIea v 0.2 0.6 1.2 1.4 10 16 21a 0.2 0.5 1.1 1.2 12 15 22

a Nuebr enolUed as a pereentAge of age group. 4 EatioStOs.b FIUW.s wre for 19282. a a - ueigbated mean;e Figor. am for 1984. a-medimi.

Ma Bt awallable or incmopIste.

Spme Wold 3.* (1988).

- 14 -

The shift to far lower levels of enrollment in secondary school in

Table 2 is quite startling, with only Zaire, Congo and Mauritius (52%, 87%

and 51% respectively) having enrollment rates above 50%. Most countries were

below 20% and Rwanda was signal for having maintained an enrollment of 2%

since 1960. Only Botswana, Lesotho and Swaziland were at or above parity in

levels of female enrollment in secondary schools.5 At the tertiary level

(Table 3), only Lesotho had female parity. These satellites of South Africa

showed a number of anomalies when compared to other countries in Sub-Saharan

Africa, largely because of the distorting effects of apartheid on their

economic and educational systems. These enrollment figures illustrate quite

clearly that fewer girls than boys enter each level of schooling and that the

higher the level of schooling, the lower the representation of girls.6

The mean educational attainment of girls is low because both

enrollment is low and wastage is high. That is, in most countries more girls

fail to enter school at all and among those that do the dropout rates are

higher (see Table 4 for primary school retention rates). In most situations,

girls are more likely to drop out of school than boys (Nkinyangi 1980 for

Kenya). Given the gender difference, there are a number of predictors and

factors that influence the length of time girls will remain in school.

Wastage is an umbrella term for a number of processes through which

educational resources are not efficiently used. The processes addressed here

are repetition (holding children back for one or more years, frequently for

poor performance on the end-of-year or promotion examination) and dropout

(children leaving school and not re-enrolling in that or any other school

before they have completed a cycle). Repetition rates are shown in Table 5.

5 he migration of young men to South Africa and the use of boys asherders outside settled areas are generally thought to account for thissituation.

6 While it can be argued that the figures at the higher levelsreflected the histories of earlier cohorts, there was no evidence that theserelative positions were changing.

- 15 -

Table 4. Primary School Retention Rates,CA. 1970-80

Retention RatesCountry Girls Boys

Benin 53.3 57Botswana 79.3 76Burkina Faso 55.4 58Burundi 12.8 13Cameroon 46.5 52Central African Republic 28.6 44.9Chad 22.2 36.9Congo 57.3 61.8Gabon 33.9 42.4Gambia inc. inc.Ghana inc. inc.Guinea inc. inc.Guinea-Bissau inc. inc.Ivory Coast 45.9 63.9Kenya 68.5 76.8Lesotho 45.5 32.2Liberia inc. inc.Malagasy Republic 20.1 20.7Malawi 26.9 45.9Kali 42.7 48.8Mauritania 52.5 53.6Niger 49.7 55.3Rwanda 33 37.1Senegal 63.1 72.3Sudan inc. inc.Swaziland 64.4 59.3Tanzania 49.3 65.6Togo 52.8 66.9Uganda inc. inc.Zaire 28.1 42.4Zambia 64.3 84.8

Note: inc. - Incomplete.Source: Robertson and Berger (1986, chapter 6).

In addition to the familiar problem of poor rocord-keeping that

makes such features difficult to quantify, both dropout and repetition are

accepted strategies within the educational system for (i) maintaining

standards and (ii) lowering the demand for school places at both the primary

and secondary levels (see Bali, et al. 1984, p. 80; Chishimba 1984, p. 151).

- 16 -

Expusion_ for cadeuic failure and for failuz% to pay school fees e widely

accepted as legitimate options that the system Gr anv individual istiitutim

can exercise to control its mbers. Such e3pulsons are not di ued

in the dats from voluntary exits. In some countriLes (e.g., Kenya and

Nligeria), thAre is both intense for secondary school places and

affirative action for less advantagd regions that take the form of lower

pass arks for thse regions. As a reult, there hbe been large-scale

transfers ituo the lst year of prmay school in those d taged regions

that has been largely umloImted (Ukinyagi 1980). Pupils bave trasferred

to raise their prospects for seschool places, changed thefr s and

exercisemd a er of other suberf to coeal their past school history

(DktY 1.982). As a result, In Kenya dropout rates in priuary schools in

the lest deeloped areas were consistently negative in the period 1970-76

(iya g 1980).

The variables that appear to have had an effect oQ femle

participation are discussed under three headi:

(i) fLv in£1e--social class (Weis 1981; Birdimb 1987;

ssie 1983); parental attitudes toward sending girls to school

(Csapo 1981); lo levls of maternal eduration (Kossoudji and

Mueller 1983; Ciernichvs 1985); child lbor (Biazen and

Ju- 1988; enicolk 1985); and selective education of

chldren aCbernichovsky 1985; Orubuloy. l987)

(i) -wietal factors -competing activities (bun-Nikoi 1978);

urban residence (Aknde 1987; Robertsn 1986; Uedri and

Bur11inal 1985; Assie 1983); overal levels of enrollmnt

(Adam and lruppenbad 1987); agr lt labor force (Vood.

San and good 1986); and pVW"ruIenX ependitures on oducation

(good. Swan and Wood 1986)

(iii) s-eooL faors -poor school quality (Esivani 1982; V.is

1981); vocational tralning opportminltes within schools

(aobIrtson 1986; Esbiwani 1982; Cospo 1981); and the lak of

role *1edls (Tedbo l984).

- 17 -

Table 5: Primary Level--Percentage Repeaters by Grade

Countries Year Jtal I . L L _1LLL _._ VJL VYVL L nIuT F T F T F T F I F T FTf FT F

Low-income Semi-arid

Kat. 1983 30 30 28 39 26 28 32 33 31 31 31 33 32 31Burkina Faso 1964 14 15 10 10 10 11 12 12 12 13 13 153S 35Niger 1986 15 15 2 2 15 151S 15 15 15 20 19 26 276ambia 1985 17 16 1t 17 11 11 II 11 11 10 13 12 37 34$omstia,Chad 1976 38 36 40 37 32 34 34 35 26 27 31 31 58 50

Low-incme RUMeEthiopia 1981 12 14 17 19 11 13 9 10 8 10 8 10 9 12Zaire 1963 19 19 21 21 22 19 21 22 18 18 15 15 12 11NaIatw 1984 16 15 17 17 16 16 13 13 9 10 4 4 11 12 13 15 38 37Guinea-Biassu 1984 50 50 56 54 c5 S1 50 51 50 51 34 39 25 29Tanzania 1982 1 1 3 3 3 3 3 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0Buwirud 1984 1S 16 12 12 13 13 10 10 16 17 22 227 30Uganda 1982 10 11 11 11 10 10 11 11 10 11 11 11 14 14 4 4Togo 1984 37 38 38 38 34 35 37 39 30 34 35 384 48Contral African Rep. 1982 35 37 35 37 32 33 35 39 31 36 33 34 49 47

Sonin 1985 27 28 21 22 23 23 27 28 26 27 30 32 42 44Rwanda 1985 12 12 18 18 13 12 12 11 11 10 9 8 1 8 8 7 7 7Kenya 1981 13 13 15 14 13 12 11 11 12 13 13 13 15 16 13 12Sierra LeoneGuinea 198S 27 31 34 35 16 19 27 31 25 32 27 32 4446Ghana 1980 2 2 4 4 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1Sudansenegal 1984 16 16 13 13 12 12 11 12 12 12 15 16 35 36Nozumbique 1985 24 24 24 24 24 25 22 23 23 25

Niddle-itenme Ofl IMortersNauritanla 1980 14 17 12 15 11 14 12 16 13 16 10 13 27 28Liberia 1978 11 12 12 13 . . 13 14 12 13 11 13 10 12 9 10 8 10Zabia 1981 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 2 1 1 1 1 6 6Lesotho 1985 23 21 31 30 25 23 21 19 17 16 15 15 13 14 20 21Cote d*Ivoire 1984 29 28 21 22 20 20 23 24 21 23 27 29 54 50Zigbabwe 1964 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 1Swaziland 1964 13 1113 11 12 9 13 11 11 9 12 11 11 11 16 15Botswana 1985 6 6 1 1 1 1 1 1 12 11 11 11 1 23 24Nauritius

Middle-Inome Oil ExnortersNigeriaCsaeroon 1984 29 28 35 34 25 24 31 30 23 23 26 26 32 31 8 8Congo, People's Rep. 1985 30 29 33 32 20 19 37 36 32 31 28 28 24 23faton 1903 33 33 45 44 31 30 30 30 20 20 19 20 33 33Angola

Mote: T a totalf a fetmlePrlmary teoos vary in length.

Souroe: UNESCO (1967).

- 18 -

SPLCS 1amu. Girls who come from socio-economically advantagedhomes are much more likely to enter and remain in secondary school. Assie(1983) showed that in the Ivory Coast a girl with a university-educated

father was over 35 times as likely to enter an academic secondary school aswas the daughter of a man with no education, while the comparable advantagefor a son was 3.5 times. The large advantage experienced by girls from homeswith high socio-economic status is reflected in their relative

over-representation in elite lycssn7 in Assie's sample: although only 25% ofall lv&M students were female, 41.7% of those in elite lyees were female.

Weis (1981) showed that women students at the secondary level inGhana were disproportionately drawn from families with more education ascompared to boys at the same level. The social class advantage was even morestriking when it was contrasted with historical levels of selectivity amongboys. In other words, even when the Ghanaian educational system was muchsmaller, the sons of uneducated fathers were not unduly disadvantaged.

Unlike Assie, Weis claims that despite their relatively higher socio-economicstatus, these girls were over-represented in low quality institutions. Thatis, the expanding population of girls was finding its way into the newer andless established secondary schools.

The reasons for the different patterns of girls' secondaryenrollment in Cote d'Ivoire and Ghana were not clear. Two reasons may be thesmaller size of the Ivorian school system and the lower proportion of female

students within it. Another possible explanation is the way in which bothsystems accommodated increasing enrollments. The degree to which existinginstitutions were expanded iither than new institutions opened would have badan impact on the opportunities for girls and other disadvantaged groups togain entrance to the more prestigious, higher quality schools.

7 These are the academic secondary schools that prepare for entrance touniversity.

- 19 -

The educational advantages conferred by high socio-economic status

were even more pronounced at the university level. Biraimah (1987) showed

that women students at the tertiary level in Nigeria were disproportionately

drawn from more privileged families. Despite the relatively privileged

background of girls at the University of Ife, their educational and

occupational aspirations were significantly lower than those of their male

colleagues.

The possible reasons for this disparity are varied. The lower

aspirations could have been a realistic adjustment to poor labor market

opportunities or a result of the absence of highly educated females in high

status occupations as role models. Mothers of those females who desired high

status occupations were themselves usually highly educated: 62% had

post-secondary or university education, compared to 26% for all students.

In Biraimah's sample, fathers' education was also important, with

80% of female students who had aspirations for high status occupations having

fathers with post-secondary or university training, compared to 41% overall.

The strong reproductive pattern in women's tertiary education was markedly

absent from men's. Although sons of highly educated urban dwelling fathers

were over-represented at the University of Ife, the majority of male students

came from rural backgrounds, with fathers who had secondary education or

less. In other words, the educational system in Nigeria provided a

relatively open ladder of economic and occupational mobility for men, but not

for women.

The marriage market explanation for the joint phenomena of extreme

socio-economic selection of tertiary-level female students and their

relatively low occupational and educational aspirations cannot be ignored.

The low quality of secondary schooling and the small number of opportunities

in the modern sector labor market suggest that schooling at the tertiary or

even secondary level is seen as a way of preparing girls for marriage '.o

Western educated men. Wrzesinska (1980) reports that the higher bride price

paid for educated daughters was an important consideration for parents who

- 20 -

sent their girls to secondary school in Zaire. The more recent data from

Nigeria may illustrate an effect at the tertiary level that was previously

apparent at the secondary level.

Parental Attitudes. The protection of daughters from foreign

influences appears stronger in areas that are still very traditional. In

Moslem areas that are also traditional, for example, Northern Nigoria, this

factor was important: this region stands in sharp contrast to others in

Nigeria in terms of the percentage of girls enrolled in school. The reasons

for the relative underdevelopment of eCucation in Northern Nigeria are often

held to arise from the British goverbiuent's laissez-faire attitude toward the

region and the resistance of the emirs to the introduction of Christian

missionaries and the spread of Western education (Denzer 1988; but see also

Tibenderana 1988 for a contrasting view that the lack of schooling in the

North was a result of British thrift rather than emir resistance). According

to Callaway (1984), the education of girls was hampered because Northern

Nigeria was the only area in Sub-Saharan Africa that observed Mirah 8 and the

only area in the world that observed it so strictly and among both rural and

urban women (Callaway 1984). Western education was regarded as a threat to

both Muslim and Hausa values. This threat was seen as particularly dangerous

for women, whose duty it was to protect the traditions (Csapo 1981). Csapo

(1981) reviewed a number of unpublished theses from Ahmadu Bello University

and editorials and articles from newspapers published in Northern Nigeria on

the subject of female education. The consensus appeared to be that it was

bad for society, and for girls themselves, to be educated in Western schools.

The article did not, however, contain any measure of the prevalence and

strength of these views or to what extent they were shared by women and

girls.

8 A system of screening women (especially Muslim and Hindu) fromstrangers. It often involves the wearing of veils in public or the seclusionof women within their homes during the day. Girls enter purdah at marriage,generally around puberty.

- 21 -

As Robertson (1986) pointed out, Islam should not, however, be

held responsible for the low enrollment of girls in Africa. Sudan stands as

a counter-example in which the Muslim North has significantly higher

enrollment rates than the Christian/traditional religion South. Robertson

claimed that, since independence, the predominantly Muslim countries in

Africa had had the highest enrollment growth rates.

Low Levels of Maternal Education. There is evidence from a number

of countries that women bear a large part of the burden for educating their

children (Tripp 1988 for Tanzania; Robertson 1977 for Ghana). The mothers'

ability to pay school fees and to encourage continued attendance at school

are important factors in explaining the levels of enrollment and attendance

of children. In #reas where polygamous marriage is common, many women are

the prime movers with respect to their children's education (Bledsoe 1988),

and their own levels of education and command of resources are important

factors in their ability to keep their children in school.

In situations where there is widespread male migration, women

become £ ct& heads of households (Kossoudji and Mueller 1983), and

households headed by educated females are more likely to send girls as well

as boys to school and to keep them there longer (Kossoudji and Mueller 1983

for Botswana); Chernichovsky 1985 for Botswana). Their ability to support

themselves or their children is in part dependent on their levels of

education: education is usually what allows women to enter formal sector

employment with its higher and more dependable income streams. The formal

sector also has the added attribute of being relatively non-compatible with

child care so that women employed there will generally be both more willing

and more able to send their children to school.

Child Labor. Mothers' time appears to be particularly constrained,

especially in rural areas where household management requires extensive time

commitments for such activities as collecting water or firewood (McSweeney

and Freedman 1980). The high fertility rates (see Table 6) can be seen as an

adaptive response to the demands of the highly time-intensive household and

- 22 -

farm tasks that make women's time a very scarce commodity. One of the

advantages of polygamous marriage is the sharing of household tasks, and,

perhaps as a consequence, women in polygamous marriages have fewer children 9

(Smith and Kunx 1976; Garenne and van der Walle 1988). The majority of

African women are not in polygamous marriages, however, and the natural

source of additional labor for the more time-intensive, low-skill jobs in the

household and on the farm is daughters or other young relatives.

The extensive use of child labor has obvious implications for the

enrollment of children in schools. Using 1974 data from Botswana,

Chernichovsky (1985) showed that the enrollment of children was sensitive

both to the presence of elderly persons (who can be seen as substitutes for

childlabor) and to the possession of capital inputs (e.g., livestock)

involved in the income-producing activities children usually engage in (i.e.,

complements). Children were more likely to be enrolled if their

grandparents lived in the household and to remain in school for a shorter

period if the household had more livestock at intermediate levels of

wealth.10 According to Chernichovsky (1985), boys' schooling was more

affected than girls' by household ownership of livestock because boys were

more likely to herd away from home and schools. Similarly, in rural

Ethiopia, labor demands are more important for boys than for girls (Biazen

and Junge 1988).

9 The apparent contradiction arises from the low time-intensity ofchild care. Mothers' work is often fully compatible with child care, and theuse of "foster" care can relieve mothers of the need to care for their babies.

10 Each additional older person increases by 26% the probability that achild will be in school, while being in the middle category of cattleownership reduces the level of education of enrolled children by 0.5 years.

Table 6. FERTILIlY, ECONOMIC GORlN, LABOR FORCE AND LITERACY

Totel AverAnnu I Avorag Annum I rowth Literate *s PrcontageF rtiII ty Rate (Growth Rbot" of Labor Force of Adult Population

wcene)t960-7 18-t0-M ILOg 1 0 9§b-7339M73 1 1960 1956 or latest year

~~j:iR!!A~iaT------ 0 .6 5.9 2.7 3.0 2.7 2.2 1.9 2.4 2 16.0Durkina Faom 6.5 6.0 2.2 2.4 2.1 1.6 1.4 1.7 2 12.2Niger 7.6 0.4 3.o 2.7 3.6 2.1 2.8 3.0 1 18.9Ga.. e 6 6.5 2.5 2.9 3.0 1.9 3.4 2.1 e 26.1Somalia 6.8 6.2 4.7 1.4 8.4 8.3 2.6 2.6 2 11.6Chad 6.6 6.5 2.8 1.9 2.6 1.6 2.3 2.3 0 26.a

Low-I s¢cme OtherEthiopia 8.1 5.5 2.8 2.9 2.9 2.2 2.2 2.5 1 66.2Zaire 6.1 4.9 2.0 2.1 3.1 1.9 2.3 2.9 31 01.2Mslawi 7.0 6.4 2.3 2.9 8.8 2.3 2.6 2.7 .. 41.2Gulnea-4leau 0.6 6.6 2.8 2.8 1.9 .. .. .. 5 31.4Tanania 7.O 5.7 3.4 3.5 3.8 2.0 2.6 3.2 19Swrundl 8.6 5.9 1.7 2.S 3.0 1.2 1.7 2.5 14 33.6Uganda 0.9 5.7 4.3 3.6 3.6 3.1 2.2 3.2 25 67.3TogW 8.5 6.4 8.2 2.7 3.5 3.2 2.0 2.9 1i 40.7Central African Rep. 1.6 6.4 1.7 8.2 2.6 1.1 1.6 2.4 7 40.2W dagm.cmr 0.6 5.0 2.8 2.7 3.1 1.9 261 2.9 .. 7.5

Sentn .6 5.4 2.9 2.9 8.4 2.1 2.0 2.6 5 25.91 adb 6.0 6.7 3.5 3.9 3.5 2.7 2.8 3.1 i6 46.6Keny 7.9 5.6 4.1 3.8 4.8 8.3 2.9 3.5 20 59.2Sierra Leone 6.5 06 1.6 1.8 2.6 1.6 1.9 1.9 7 29.3Ouinra e.g 6.0 1.4 1.7 2.8 1.2 1.2 1.8 7 2s.3~ana 6.4 4.7 2.6 2.5 8.1 1.4 1.S 8.6 27 53.2Sudan e.g S.6 2.2 8.2 8.0 2.8 2.4 2.6 13Senga 6.6 5.6 2.6 2.5 8.1 1.7 2.2 2.4 0 23.1Mozatque 0.a 5.7 2.5 4.0 3.6 1.8 1.0 2.4 8 38.6

Hlddl!_tn¢om Oil I mDfort rrA uritois * 0-.2 5.9 2.7 2.2 2.8 1.0 2.3 2.1 5Liberia 6.9 6.7 2.9 2.3 3.6 2.1 3.0 2.5 9 35.oZailI 6.8 6.8 8.6 3.6 3.5 2.8 2.1 3.1 29 75.7Lemtho 5.8 4.7 2.6 2.4 8.6 1.7 1.0 2.3 .. 73.6Cote d'Svolre 6.6 4.8 3.3 6.6 8.9 4.2 3.9 3.3 5 42.7Zimbabwe 6.8 4.0 4.0 3.6 3.7 2.7 1.6 3.4 89 74.0$011i lan 6.9 5.6 3.6 3.6 8.6 2.6 2.2 2.7 .. 67.9Botmemn 0.7 4.7 3.2 4.2 3.8 2.2 4.2 2.9 . 70.0Uwuritlu 2.7 2.3 2.6 6.o o.3 2.3 2.8 2.1 61 82.6

Middil:lncome OllI ExportergNiger i O r O .? 2.6 2.7 8.6 1.7 2.0 8.1 15 42.4Cmeoen 6.7 5.0 2.6 8.6 4.1 1.9 1.8 3.6 19 6.2Con., Peple'. Rtp. 6.2 6.6 2.6 4.0 4.0 1.9 1.9 3.7 19 62.9Gabon 4.9 5.4 1.6 2.2 3.1 .0.2 0.8 2.0 .. 01.6Angle 6.4 5.9 2.3 2.7 2.9 1.6 2.0 2.7 .. 41.6

Sub-Saharan Afrcab 9 41.8w 6.6 5.5 2.8 2.9 3.3 2.1 2.2 2.6

08.5 5.6 2.7 2.8 3.1 2.6 2.2 2.7

a Population of primary- and aecondry-ochool-g children. b w u weighe _mn; mm median.

Source: World Bank (1998).

- 24 -

Urban girls may also be needed for household labor. Women in

seclusion in Northern Nigeria depend on children for their economic activity.

Ironically, being in seclusion does not exempt these women from family

obligations that require cash expenditures. Their husbands are unlikely to

assume responsibility for these outlays because these obligations are used to

support the woman's position in her own lineage (Remy as cited in Fapohunda

1978). Consequently, women in RMrAah are engaged in several kinds of

production for the market, especially foo preparation and handicrafts.

Confined as they are to their households during daylight, they depend on

children or young relatives to sell their wares in the street or marketplace.

They also rely on their children to collect raw materials and help with

production and sales. Sending children, especially girls, to school may be

against the interests of such women.

Selective Education of Children. Children can be kept out of

school for reasons that include a need for their labor and a need for them to

learn traditional skills. Chernichovsky (1985) found a positive effect on

schooling from the number of school-age children in the household in large

families: those children who went to school attended for longer periods but

those not enrolled were more likely never to have been enrolled. He

interpreted this pattern as evidence that parents select certain children for

Western education. The family may need individuals who are literate and able

to deal with the more Western aspects of the economy, but at the same time

productive activity and income-generation may be based on traditional

systems. In Botswana, Swaziland and Lesotho, this calculus appears to

operate to the advantage of girls. However, in most other countries, boys

are more likely to receive an educational advantage.

Sending children to school means they lose valuable learning time

in traditional skills (Bowman and Anderson 1980; Robertson 1984). Schooling

also has costs in terms of fees, uniforms, books, etc. that may be nominal or

low in modern sector terms but that are relatively high when the principal

income-generating activities do not take place in the modern sector.

- 25 -

Even in an urban setting, the foregone learning has strong

implications for the enrollment of girls in school (Robertson 1984). Girls

and women are overwhelmingly employed in the traditional or informal sectors,

and staying in school means that they lose valuable learning time with their

mothers, nor can they be apprenticed to older women without losing time from

school. At the same time, the returns to modern sector employment are much

lower for girls than for boys. Given the costs associated with schooling and

the relatively lower returns to girls' education, the choice of whom to

enroll in school is often made against girls and for boys. Studies of

spending on girls and boys in Nigeria show that parents both expect to and

actually do spend more to feed and educate thteir sons than their daughters

(Orubulcye 1987).

Societal Factors

Competing Activities. Child labor, marriage and initiation rites

at puberty can compete for the time older girls can spend in school. The

demand for child labor was discussed. The relatively young age of marriage

in many countries (Table 7) means that marriage is still an important reason

why girls do not enter secondary or tertiary institutions or having

enrolled, leave before the cycle is completed. Although the enrollment of

married students is not unknown,ll pregnancy and childbirth usually end a

school career. For older female students, therefore, the competing activity

of family formation is an additional handicap to their schooling. Marriage

can affect primary school children in cases where there are significant

numbers of over-age children or in societies in which betrothal takes place

at very young ages. In Ethiopia, for example, 20% of the primary school

students surveyed in a study reported by Biazen and Junge (1988) were either

promised, married or divorced. Both boys and girls were affected, but this

was the most popular reason given for the non-enrollment of girls.

11 Eighty percent of female students at Bayero University were marriedin 1982 (Callaway 1984).

- 26 -

Although ipitiation rites at puberty are becoming more flexible,

they can require extensive periods away from school, especially if parents

wish their daughters to marry or become engaged at this time.

Amon-Nikoi (1978) pointed out that labor force participation rates

are highest for women in the 15-25 age group.

Urban Residence. A number of studies (Akande 1987; Robertson 1986;

ledri and Burchinal 1985; Assie 1983) have suggested that area of residence

is predictive of enrollment and attainment at all levels of education. The

mechanisms through which urban residence operates are not always clear,

however. The presence of schools, the relatively higher cost of rural girls'

time, the greater wealth of urban families, different attitudes toward the

education of girls in Western schools, relatively better schools and the

greater opportunities for girls to obtain modern sector employment may all be

relevant factors. Evidence on which to judge the relative strength of these

competing and complementary explanations is generally lacking.

The next three societal factors relate to variables that appear to

have an effect at the national level and are indicators of the level of

development of the country and its educational system: overall levels of

enrollment, percent of the labor force engaged in agriculture and percent of

GNP spent on education.

Overall Levels of Enrollment. Adams and Kruppenbad (1987)

suggested in their comparison of four countries (Botswana, Liberia, Niger and

Somalia) that the overall level of enrollment was one of the factors that

explained female access to primary school. In other words, countries

enrolled boys first, while girls gained access at a delayed rate. An

additional factor was the overall level of economic development, with richer

countries having higher levels of female enrollment. However, with a larger

sample, Robertson (1986) found very little correlation between growth rates

in girls' enrollment and levels of GNP or per capita income.

- 27 -

Table 7: Age by Which 50% of Women and Men Have Ever BeLn Married,by Rural/Urban Residence

Total-- -Rural Urban-Country Year Women Men Women Men Women Men

Chad 1964 17a 22 17 22 17 22Mali 1976 17 27 17 27 19 29Mauritania 1965 n.a. n.a. 21 28 n.a. n.a.Senegal 1972 18 28 17 28 19 29Burkina Faso 1975 17 27 17 26 18 27

Benin 1961 20a 24 20 24 18 25Ghana 1971 19 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.Guinea 1954-55 23a 26 20 26 20a 27Liberia 1974 18 26 18 26 18 26Togo 1970 18 25 18 25 20 27

Burundi 1970-71 21 23 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.Cameroon 1976 18 26 17 25 19 27Rwanda 1970 20 22 20 22 20 24Zaire 1955-58 18 23 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

Ethiopia 1970 n.a. n.a. 16 22 n.a. n.a.Kenya 1969 19 25 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.Mauritius 1972 22 27 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.Seychelles 1977 30 32 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

Sudan 1973 18 25 18 25 19 27Tanzania 1967 17 23 17 23 17 25Uganda 1973 20 30 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

Angola 1970 18 23 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.Botswana 1971 24 30 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.Lesotho 1966 19 25 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.Malawi 1977 17 22 17 22 18 24Mozaubique 1970 19 24 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.Zambia 1969 18 24 n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

a Precise age cannot be determined; figure represents a maximum estimate.Mote: n.a. Not available.

Source: Newman (1984, Table 6.2).

- 28 -

AgrIcultrl Labor Force. Using all developing countries in Africa

and Asia with data, Wood, Swan and Wood (1986) reported that the percentage

of the labor force engaged in agriculture was the economic factor that most

strongly predicted a nation's dropout rate. They hypothesized that the size

of the agricultural labor force was a measure of the demand for child labor.

Particularly with traditional farming methods, the payoff to education was

sufficiently low that parents did not feel the need to send their children to

school, nor were there likely to be many opportunities for off-farm

employment. While this argument was not specific to girls, it suggests that

in areas where most farming was done by women, the labor demands on girls

were greater than those on boys. The situation in Botswana illustrated the

effects when boys' labor had more economic value than did girls'.

Government Exoenditures on Educatlon. Wood, Swan and Wood (1986)

also identified the level of government expenditures as an important

predictor of the national dropout rate. The authors related this supply

variable to a high valuation of education. Expenditures on education were

probably also related to the number of school places and the probability that

students were not being asked to leave school because of a r1lortage of

places.

School Factors

Poor School OualIty. Poor school quality inhibits the educational

attainment of girls in several ways. Curriculum is a major factor: there is

continuing disproportionate enrollment of girls in subject areas such as

domestic science (Harding 1985). (See Table 8 for the distribution in

tertiary institutions.)

Apart from the curricular choices that girls may be encouraged to

make, the overall quality of the schools they attend has an important effect.

Eshiwani (1982) and Weis (1981) showed that in Kenya and Ghana, respectively,

girls were over-repres4nted in secondary level institutions of low quality,

i.e., those institutions that had relatively poor success in preparing their

- 29 -

students for "00 Level and 'Al Level examinations.12 One of the most

important disadvantages this conferred was a lack of access to science and

mathematics. Eshivani showed that the majority of girls in secondary school

in Kenya were in harmbanb3 schools, few of which offered any science, while

those that did lacked the infrastructure to do so effectively. Associated

with this lack of scientific training was the idea that physics and chemistry

were unfeminine.l4 From Swaziland, Wheldon and Smith (1986) reported that

girls in single-sex schools were less likely to choose physical sciences than

were girls in mixed schools, despite the fact that the single-sex schools in

their sample had selective admissions and were well-equipped. The lack of

access to science in secondary school was usually permanent; the European

type of educational system still in use in African countries ensured that

options not taken were usually options lost. For example, courses were more

circumscribed with feir mechanisms for such options as changing majors.

The poor quality of the institutions girls attended also put them

at a disadvantage outside the educational system. They were less likely to

acquire permanent functional literacy and the skills that employers would

value in educated workers. This disadvantage was distinct from any distaste

or discrimination that may have existed among employers. There was some

evidence that those women who did manage to complete their education

successfully may have suffered pronounced discrimination on the job. For

example, female engineers were sometimes not allowed on site or had great

difficulty obtaining internships during their training (Adjebeng-Asem 1988

for Nigeria).

12 These exams are often prerequisites for entrance into furthereducation or formal sector employment.

13 Schools created and maintained through community self-help.

14 Eshiwani (1982) reported that female students at the University ofNairobi commented several times, "mathematics and science make you ugly."

- 30 -

TIe 8: Totlary L&el-Tol F p' - Famle, F by F:eld of St*,

Fleldi of S b-

y 11Tota I TI lII IV V VI VI I VI I I IX X Xi

EFin 16.4 16.2 38.6 30.0 17.2 18.7 18.6 6.3

40.1 47.6 38.2 39.3 43.3 69.0 32.1 39.1

B.llclm Fa 2.2 28.5 22.4 32.2 13.9 aD.0 16.9 4.6BardIl 2S.9 25.8 2B.8 35.6 34.3 37.6 42.5 19.8 7.0Caw= 18.6 0 23.4 18.3 17.8 6.8 0 14.7 3.8C.A.R. 9.9 13.4 8.7 7.6 21.8 3.6

Cad 8.8 1.7 9.8 10.0 10.4 5.1

CTQ 13.4 13.1 12.5 13.3 11.4 38.7 6.1a4N d lIolre 30.0 18.9 11.7 32.8 45.0 10.6 3.0

Ethlcpla 17.9 19.1 18.9 9.3 8.6 14.3 34A 17.7 37.6 7.6 12.6

at= 27.0 14.8 29.2 38.0 38.3 48.7 24.2 15.9 2D.6

:a 17.1 25.7 30.7 21.8 14.4 3.9 9.4 12.1G.fnra 14.4 11.7 31.0 16.2

.Kog, 28.2 37.0 a2.6 39.5 38.5 38.3 47.6 89.2 13.9 27.61.0813tho 63.2 72.1 57.4 38.7 S6.9 62.0 29.8

Libria 27.7 23.4 41.7 25.4 18.8 33.4 15.8 5.6

rM - 38.4 31.6 a8.8 4Z.8 34.8 34.2 38.9 18.1

tMlaNI 27.5 33.5 6.0 13.6 13.6 12.3lt l 11.3 43.5 17.4

MLrittus 27.2 33.3 16.7 22.1 68.7 20.0 38.0

M=Ybls 23.0 33.0 38.4 Z.7 30.4

Nil 18.4 2D.5 3.3 30.7 17.2 24.7 6.7

13.4 30.5 7.0 17.1 38.6 31.6 11.6

pl9m 2D.8 11.0 2Z.1 17.5 25.5 2B.1 11.3

9n*: 30.5 33.2 31.9 20.3 33.8 38.3 27.0 38.0

taIl Isd 38.2 49.1 65.0 27.1 48.0 40.6 13.0 38.6

Tq 15.0 22.0 19.9 11.4 6.0

21.9 24.2 24.5 25.8 32.6 23.1 24.7 13.7 7.5

Tarmia 13.6 20.0 0 16.8 0. 1 0.8 2.4

Zmbla 17.3 19.2 2S.8 28.8 21.1 9.1

-31 -

L& (OW.)Field Of SW*, Last Yew

czlb'y xiI xiII xIv W xii WII w/I I

anin 16.0 3.7 8.3

BkIrs Fas 1.7 7.8

BfrdI 21.0 1.6 11.8 6.1 29.1

nmwlcm 21.0 4.8

CA.R. 11.5

Ova

ozp ;D.9 8.4 2.0

C d' Iolre 32.2 3.6 30.4 2.0 5.2 7.2

EthlplIa 14.3 3.3 9.2 5.3

=bon 42.1 4.8 4.7 9.7

uav 2.9 1.8 15.2 9.5

Girn 14.6 3.8 4.0 19.2 12.5 15.7

V4ffW 24.7 1.7 17.6 27.5 19.8

Liteia a5.9 0 0 11.7 34.3

n rcw 4.6 7.4 1.8 33.6

1aM 71.1 0 15.8 9.3

Mll 1 12.8 2.1 18.4 10.3 0

MLritiw 2.0 4.0 29.3

Mtnbiqa 50.6 7.8 30.2

Nil i8.4 6.3

RPah 11.9 0 10D.0 3.3 3.0

pffvwl 34.6 14.0 6.2 6.1

sxbn 32.0 7.4 15.8 18.8 97.8

szi Ismi 15.1

Tcqp 21.3 0 1.1 2.8

4urft 21.2 3.4 21.0 23.1

Tania 11.9 3.9 0 0

ambla 31.1 0 4.8 11.6

- 32 -

Table 8: (contd.)

aI Education science and teacher training.II Humanities, religion and theology.III Fine and applied arts.IV Law.V Social and behavioral science.VI Commercial and business administration.VII 14ass communication and documentation.VIII Home economics (domestic science).IX Service trades.X Natural science.XI Mathematics and computer science.XII Medical science and health-related areas.XIII Engineering.XIV Architecture and town planning.XV Trade, craft and industrial programs.xvI Transport and communications.XVII Agriculture, forestry and fishery.XVIII Other and not specified.

Source: UNESCO (1987).

Vocational Trainine Opgortunities. A number of authors have

indicated that social attitudes toward the lack of fit between the vocations

for which schooling is suposed to prepare students and the vocations that

are regarded as suitable for girls has accounted for some of the reluctance

to send girls to school. Csapo (1981) and Wrzesinska (1980) explicitly

referred to the wife-mother role, the formar suggesting that in Northern

Nigeria this was the only approved role and the latter indicating that it was

the major role the subjects of her study--secondary school girls--appeared

interested in. Csapo reports that a girl's expected vocation was to be a

wife and mother, and school was therefore unnecessary.

These views must be examined in the light of two different issues:

the availability of modern sector employment opportunities for women and the

curricular segregation of the genders, which often starts in the higher

grades of elementary school and continues in secondary and tertiary

- 33 -

institutions. Girls are channelled into domestic science, handicrafts andbiology and boys into chemistry, mathe_atics and, more directly, vocationalsubjects15 (Eshiwani 1982 for Kenya; Harding 1985). One of the strikingresults of this lack of preparation for the labor market is that only in thethird world did female labor force participation fall between 1960 and 1981

from 45% to 42% (Kelly 1988). This drop occurred despite a massive expansionin education in the some period, which should have prepared an increasingnumber of women for modern sector employment. The evidence for Africa

indicates that the causes for this disjuncture have arisen from both the

curricular choices women have been given and the quality of the schools in

which they have been enrolled (Eshiwani 1982; Weis 1981).

Consequently, neither the belief that women only need to be

housewives (refuted by the overwhelming evidence that most women engagedirectly in economically productive activities in the informal andtraditional sectors),16 nor that secondary school students are predominantlyinterested in becoming wives and mothers (given the kind of training manygirls are exposed to in school), are useful or realistic generalizations

about the kind of social or personal expectations African girls are subjectto. Unfortunately, curricular materials within the school too oftenexaggerate and perpetuate this unrealistic idea of a woman's role beingconfined to that of wife and mother.

Lack of Role Models. Tembo (1984) surveyed a number of primary andlower secondary texts from Zambia as part of a UNESCO project on genderstereotypes in textbooks. The methodology was simple: the number ofoccurrences of male and female characters were summed, their activities andcharacteristics noted.

15 The efficacy of these school-based vocational programs is dubiousfor both sexes. For girls, the training they receive is often irrelevant tothe lives they lead; for boys, quality is the more salient issue, althoughthe relevance of the training can also be doubtful.

16 See Dixon (1982) and UNECA (1984) for evidence on women in theagricultural sector.

- 34 -

The results were instructive: there were many more male than female

characters; and those female characters vho did appear did so primarily in

domestic roles and were characterized as passive, stupid and ignorant. Men's

activities were admired, women's ignored. No study that attempted to measure

the impact of such stereotypes on girls was identified. But one can

conjecture that the probable educational and occupational aspirations of

girls will be those of wife and mother when those roles are the only female

ones they are exposed to in textbooks.

It has also been noted that the presence of femals teachers in

schools and classrooms is often held to be a strategy for countering these

images (Stromquist 1986).

Discussion

The factors shown to have affected the levels of enrollment,

attainment and wastage of girls in African countries include negative

parental and community attitudes toward the Western education of girls; the

opportunity costs of girls' time and indirectly of their mothers'; general

levels of wealth and economic development; unfavorable labor market

opportunities; poor quality schools, particularly with respect to the type of

curriculum is offered to girls; and regional disparities between urban and

rural areas. Some of these factors are more amenable to intervention than

others, and, except for curriculum offerings and increasing the number of

female teachers, all require strategies that are community-wide and not

confined to the school.

Conspicuous by its absence is any study that uses the lack of

supply of places in primary school to explain the disparity between boys' and

girls' enrollment. The tacit, and perhaps valid, assumption appears to be

that even were there enough places for all children of primary school age,

girls would still be under-represented in many countries and school places

unused on a regional basis (Jones 1980 for Tunisia; Bowman and Anderson

- 35 -

1980). The study that comes closest to linking supply factors to school

enrollment found that, on average, primary school students lived closer to

the school than the community was (B1azen and Junge 1988 for rural Ethiopia).

The conclusion is either that school enrollees are disproportionately drawn

from families living close to the school, or that those students who are

enrolled move to live closer to it.

One of the more fruitful strategies for increasing female

participation appears to be one that is aimed not at school-age girls but at

their mothers. Such a strategy would have at least two prongs: the first

would be to reduce the mothers' dependence on the labor of their children,

and the second would be to raise the educational levels of mothers

themselves. The first prong would involve the introduction of amenities such

as convenient water supplies and fuel for the household that would be

relatively cheap and available and have minimal environmental impact. At

least two projects have used such technological innovations to reduce the

time constraints on women and free them for education: a project in Burkina

Paso (McSweeney and Freedman 1980) and a USAID-funded soil and water project

on agricultural innovation in Kenya (Knowles 1988).

Second, literacy programs are an ongoing feature in many African

countries that have had much success, for example, in Tanzania. It Is

essential they be continued. However, closer integration with existing

formal educational structures and grassroots organizations such as

cooperatives could (i) lower their costs and (ii) make them more salient to

the lives of new literates. Organizational needs such as record-keeping

would serve as an impetus to attaining literacy as well as a spur to

maintaining literacy in cases where reading materials are scarce or

unavailable.

Factors such as general levels of enrollment, levels of economic

development, and poor labor market opportunities for women require major

long-term financial and planning Initiatives. Evidence from other continents

suggests some pessimism as to the impact such changes would have on women's

- 36 -

participation. They might be necessary but are far from being sufficient.

While economic development might increase enrollment, the effect on the other

aspects of women's educational participation and indirectly on their social

and economic welfare is dubious.

To allay fears that schools would be corrupting, it is important

that indigenous individuals and groups sponsor schools. For example, in

parts of West Africa, including Nigeria and Sierra Leone, Muslim

organizations (including women's groups) have opened schools that presumably

do not engender fears that formal education will lessen girls' commitment to

Islam or encourage non-Muslim values.

Achievement and Perfgrmance

The evidence on performance and achievement usually comes from

comparisons of exam results, often national examinations. The evidence on

the relationship between gender and achievement is mixed. For example,

Heyneman (1975) indicated that gender was the single most important variable

in explaining variations in achievement (i.e., performance on the Primary

Leaving Examination) in Ugandan schools before 1975, with boys performing at

a markedly higher level than girls. Looking at mathematics achievement inNigeria and Swaziland, Lockheed and Komenan (1988) found that girls in

single-sex schools had the highest levels of performance in both countries.

However, using a national sample of secondary school leavers in Tanzania,

Amuge (1987) found that boys outperformed girls in secondary school in almost

every subject, whereas an intensive study of performance in Mauritius primary

schools found that girls outperformed boys in both urban and rural areas

(Chinapah 1983). Girls in government and government-aided Nairobi secondary

schools performed as well as boys, although pupils in single-sex schools

performed better than those in mixed schools (Boit 1986). It appears that

selective girls' schools prepared their pupils very well (as indicated in the

Boit and Lockheed and Komenan studies), but in the only study that used a

national sample of secondary school students (i.e., Amuge 1987), boys

- 37 -

outperformed girls. The single study on primary schools showed the reverse,

but there is no evidence on how widespread a phenonmenon this is.

Unfortunately, none of the studies attempted to investigate

directly the factors important in the achievement of girls. The discussion

below simply lists several factors that probably affect achievement, in the

absence of direct empirical evidence. The section is divided into:

(i) family influence--family obligations (Fapohunda 1978;

Wrzensinska 1980); and gender-based division of roles (Wheldon

and Smith 1986)

(ii) school fators --quality (Akande 1987; Eshiwani 1982; Weis

1981); teacher attitudes (Wondimagegnehu and Tiku 1988; Boit

1986; Amara 1987); and single-sex schools (Wheldon and Smith

1986; Lockheed and Komenan 1988; Boit 1986; Amuge 1987).

Family Influence

Family Obligations. Girls are more likely than boys to have a

number of household tasks to complete. These tasks are more likely to take

precedence over school work for them than for their brothers (Fapohunda 1978;

Wrzesinska 1980). This pattern may lover achievement.

Gender-based Division of Roles. The perception that science and

science-based careers are male ones seemed to be the most salient part of

girls' decisions not to take science subjects in secondary school in

Swaziland (Wheldon and Smith 1986). Poor preparation in basic science is

likely to be a handicap in a number of areas, including those regarded as

"female," such as nursing, nutrition and home economics.

Sichool Factgrs

Ouality. Akande (1987) found that urban schools had higher

achieving female students than did rural schools but did not discuss the

- 38 -

mechanisms of this advantage. Eshiwani (1982) inticated that girls primarily

entered harambee schools that had poorer equipment, less qualified teachers,

more limited curricula than did the government or government-aided schools

boys were more likely to attend. Weis (1981) Indicated that 86.1% of

secondary school girls in Ghana were enrolled in low status schools, as

against 43.0% of secondary school boys.

The tendency for girls to attend schools known for their poor

preparation for national and standardized tests would suggest that girls are

likely to perform less well than boys.

Teacher Attitudes. Increasing the number of female teachers is

often recommended as a strategy for raising achievement and attainment among

females. However, unless female (and male) teachers are trained to be

sensitive to gender equity, the increased number of female teachers is not

likely to be a source of positive images.

A few studies reported on teacher attitudes without, however,

reporting on the gender of the teacher. Nevertheless, the point was made

that a negative attitude toward the ability of girls, and even in some cases

their right to an education, was surprisingly prevalent among teachers. From

Ethiopia, Wondimagegnehu and Tiku (1988) reported that 18 of the 31 teachers

interviewed felt that boys were better than girls in all academic subjects.

Boit (1986) reported, that only 40% of the Nairobi teachers and school heads

interviewed felt that girls would do as well as boys if given the same

opportunities. Based on an informal survey, Amara (1987) reported that

teachers in Sierra Leone had higher expectations of boys than of girls.

Single-Sex Schools. In a sample of third-year students from

Nairobi secondary schools, Bait (1986) found that girls in single-sex schools

performed as well as boys from single-sex schools and significantly better

than both boys and girls from mixed-sex schools on a test of mathematics

achievement. In Swaziland, Wheldon and Smith (1986) found the relative pass

rate in science was the same for girls in both types of schools. However,

- 39 -

they indicated that girls in single-sex schools were more likely to opt for

mathematics and agriculture than for the physical sciences, a pattern that

may have accounted for Lockheed and Komenan's finding of superior mathematics

achievement in single-sex schools. The reasons for greater gender bias in

girls-only schools in Swaziland were not clear, and in fact girls-only

schools in Britain have less gender bias than do mixed schools (Wheldon and

Smith 1986). Swazi girls in mixed schools may be taking advantage of

curriculum offerings intended for boys, or single-sex schools may not be able

to hire female teachers to teach subjects such as physics and chemistry.

Amuge (1987) found that among a sample of fourth-year secondary

school students in Tanzania, there did not appear to be a significant

difference between the performance of girls in single-sex and mixed-sex

schools when a wide range of subjects was looked at (commerce, agriculture,

English, verbal ability, home economics, mathematics, math aptitude, Swahili

and technical). However, boys outperformed girls in all subject areas except

commerce. The findings with respect to single-sex schools are summarized in

Table 9.

table 9: Summary of Effect of Single-Sex Schools on Achievement

Author Country Level Sample Comment

Amuge Tanzania 2 National, 4181 Form IV No effectstudents

Boit Kenya 2 Nairobi government schools, Positive3rd year math class

Lockheed Nigeria and 2 8th grade, 8 southern states Positiveand Komenan Swaziland 8th grade,volunteer Positive

Wheldon Swaziland 2 Cambridge Overseas School Positiveand Smith Certificate entrants (1985)

- 40 -

Discussion

School quality appears to be very important. Given the financial

constraints faced by most African governments, the wholesale upgrading of

physical facilities, provision of textbooks and qualified teachers are not

feasible in the near future. Nevertheless, changes can be made that would

improve school quality without necessarily incurring major new costs by

addressing what Dreeben (1988) calls technological choices in the classroom.

For example, Lockheed and Komenan (1988) showed that teaching practices

rather than teacher quality were predictive of higher attainment in schools.

Barr and Dreeben (1983) made a similar point in a different context: that

major gains in achievement levels could be effected through the organization

of classroom time and use of classroom materials, independently of the

ability levels of students. Outside the classroom, Eshiwani (1982) strongly

urged organizational changes in the educational system to remove or

ameliorate the disadvantages girls bore.

- 41 -

CHAPTER III: RECOMMENDATIONS

A clear problem in terms of female participation in education has

been the existence of only a few direct programs by government agencies

aimed specifically at increasing the participation of women in schools

(Damiba 1982; De Souza 1982). Regional and ethnic disparities, on the other

hand, have been addressed, although with mixed success. There is some

evidence that non-governmental organizations and international donors have

made some efforts to raise the levels of female schooling, but their effect

has been negligible, largely because their efforts have been small-scale and

limited (Stromquist 1986). In addition, having foreign organizations be the

source of such an impetus may reinforce traditional beliefs about protecting

women from Western corruption, which in turn can pose obstacles to raising

their levels of schooling.

Many of the strategies that foll w will not only help retain girls

in school but will also lead to overall iprovement of the educational

systems.

Increasing School Places

Expansion of educational systems has been used throughout the

continent to expand access not only for girls but also for regions and groups

with historically low levels of participation. As discussed, this strategy

has been successful in raising the levels of female participation, i.e.,

enrollment and attainment, but has had less success in reducing or

eliminating gender differentials. For example, the provision of 100 primary

schools in Kano State between 1976 and 1981 quadrupled the level of girls'

enrollment, but their relative share of school places only increased from 25%

to 30% (Callaway 1984). Expansion is also a very expensive option. The

provision of schooling to clients who do not now have access through

expansion of the system will require an administrative and financial effort

that would strain most African education budgets.

- 42 -

Chamie (1983) suggested, as an alternative, multiple uses of

resources, i.e., teachers and buildings, as a way of expanding places without

incurring capital costs. This option has been tried with some success in a

number of countries. However, it may widen regional gaps, as those regions

already well-provided with schools would be able to generate the largest

number of additional school places. Moreover, unless teachers are to be paid

extra, teacher resistance to double shifts or increased workloads should not

be discounted.

Teachers

In reviews conducted by Husen, Saha and Noonan (1978) and Avalos

and Haddad (1979), several teacher variables were related to increasing the

achievement of girls. The discussion in both volumes was not specific to

Africa but concerned less developed countries in general. Although the

effect on girls was not addressed directly, Husen, et al. (1978) found that

female teachers were better at teaching subjects such as English and French.

The impact of female teachers on female students does not appear to have been

investigated. While single-sex schools can be assumed to have a higher

proportion of female teachers, there is not enough information to decide

whether the gender of teachers is an important variable in those schools'

generally better performance levels.

The gender bias in subjects studied at the secondary and tertiary

levels suggests that female teachers in subjects such as engineering, physics

and chemistry are few, but are very important to increasing the acceptance of

these disciplines as open to both boys and girls.

Gender bias with respect to subject choice is a problem in many

countries (Harding 1985; Wheldon and Smith 1986): frequently the natural

sciences are regarded as "male" subjects. Several authors have argued that

it is the style of presentation of these subjects within the classroom and

- 43 -

within society that is responsible for this perception and have called for

greater relevance in science teaching. Amara (1987) reported on the adoption

of a basic science curriculum in an all-girls school in Sierra Leone that

built on indigenous technologies, e.g., in food processing, dyeing, and

production of household chemicals, to teach basic concepts in chemistry and

biology to its students. The program has apparently been used successfully

since 1981. However, this school is an independent vocational one run by the

YWCA and therefore has considerable autonomy.

Reducing Women's Worklofids

The implications for educational participation of the double burden

on women and their dependence on the help of their daughters were discussed.

The Project for the Equal Access of Women and Girls to Education in Burkina

Faso (McSweeney and Freedman 1980) was designed to investigate obstacles to

female education and initiate programs to remove them. Lack of time was seen

as the major impediment, and a number of simple labor-saving technologies

were introduced to free time for educational activity for both women and

girls. While there was no difference between the control and experimental

villages in girls' attendance at school, 50% of the women in the experimental

village had taken advantage of the non-formal training offered, versus 7% of

the women in the control village.

Non-Govermental Organization-SRonsored Education

The current fiscal crisis implies that those countries with less-

developed education systems will find it impossible to increase the provision

of public schooling to all children of school age. Countries such as Nigeria

and Kenya, which have used public and private expansion, respectively, to

increase access, still have not achieved universal primary enrollment.

Supplementary suppliers of educational services need to be

developed. Privatization is only part of the answer, and in some countries

only a small part. If cost is an obstacle to girls' enrollment, it is likely

to be an even greater impediment if parents have to bear the full expense.The potential exists for even greater regional and social class disparities.

Stromquist (1986) recommended the use of women's organizations andother non-governmental organizations to promote and organize non-formaleducational systems that could supplemont the formal educational ones. Shereported that the record of these organizations with international aidagencies has generally been positive. Non-governmental organizations havethe advantage of possessing an extant framework and organization and beingoriented toward low-cost, cost-effective community-level work. Women'sorganizations, both traditional and international, already exist in Africancountries.

Such organizations already serve women in a number of non-formaleducational settings. Women who are already poorly served are being forcedto make up for the deficiencies of public and private formal educationsystems by seeking training in such settings. The existence of non-formaleducation settings also tends to relieve the pressures for reform of formaleducational systems. The danger here is that such organizations may beoverburdened by such demands.

Religious education systems can also be developed. Morgan andArmer (1988) point, with reference to boys' education, to the vigor andgrowth of Koranic education in Northern Nigeria alongside Western education.

It is clear that the policies followed by a number of internationalagencies have affected women's participation in education. Of immediateconcern is the package of structural adjustment policies being advocated bythe World Bank/IMF for many African countries. A discussion of a few keypoints in light of the above discussion gives some indication of the possiblydisastrous consequences for women's education these policies may entail.

(1) The cutback in the public sector has a number of implicationsfor women and women's education. This sector is a

- 45 -

disproportionate employer of women in the modern sector,

includLng education. The cutback can be regarded as an attack

on two fronts: school places will be imperiled, 1 7 and

employment opportunities for those who do attend school will

be reduced, a situation that will further lower the already

low labor returns to education for women.18

(2) The privatization of the public sector, including education,

will widen the already wide cleavages between those girls who

have education and those who do not. The strong consumption

aspect of girls' Western education at the secondary and

tertiary levels will dlscourage poorer parents who will be

asked to pay even more for their children's education. In

those areas where enrollment is at or approaching

universality, it will introduce an economic factor into a

decision that had become automatic.

Recommendations made ln the World Bank Policy Study on Education in

Sub-Saharan Afrlca appear more sensitlve to the problems that women face as

they try to enter and move through the education system. However,

reconciling these recommendations with World Bank flscal policy will not be

simple.

The African Development Bank's Education Sector Policy Paper,

published ln 1986, names access and equity, includlng gender equity, as the

first of five major problem areas that will guide funding. Support for

projects that attempt to remedy inequalities and ease enrollment in

institutions in which women have been under-represented will be a special

priority (p. 15). Such an emphasis will presumably be affected by the

willingness of member states to propose and support such projects. A brief

review of the most recent development plans from African countries suggests

17 For example, the Government of Gambia released 2,000 teachers in1988.

18 Robertson (1986) cited Ram (1982) as reporting that the returns ongirls' primary education were one-third those of boys (7% to 21S) in Kenya.

- 46 -

that projects that specifically address gender inequality do not appear to

have received much attention at the national level, where general economic

development and fiscal stabillity appear to be the major concerns (Metra

Consulting 1983).

There are inherent political contradictions in any attempt to

increase access to schools or improve their quality. Such an attempt is

likely to increase the demand for education from both genders, a situation

that will in turn lead to additional pressure in such areas as unemployment

among school leavers and further expansion and differentiation of the

educational system. These pressures will be equally difficult for

governments to withstand or give in to.

Research Aeenda

The recommendations here are general because more research into the

process of gender inequality needs to be carried out before specific action

can be taken. Much of the research needs to involve specific contexts on a

national or even regional basis. An important initial step would involve

marshalling research already completed at research institutes, university

departments of education, teacher training institutions and ministries of

education within each country. Such research reports are generally not

available outside the institutions for which the research was conducted.

There is enough data on most countries to describe fully the ways

in which gender inequality manifests itself within the education system.

More analysis of the process is needed, however, i.e., how females are

disadvantaged, before strategies to remedy the disadvantages can be

developed. The analysis needs to be done in a multivariate context, with

appropriate controls, including parental socio-economic status or the socio-

economic status of the relevant household. The necessity in many countries

to move one's residence for educational reasons and, in West Africa, the

prevalence of fosterage indicate that parental status may not always be

relevant (see Bledsoe 1988; Lanzas and Kingston 1981).

- 47 -

Finally, any interventions can only be expected to ameliorate, notremove, gender inequalities within school systems, as the existinginequalities are the result of inequalities in society.

- 48 -

APENDIX 1! A METH0DOLOGICAL NOTE

The discussion in this section highlights the problems of selection

bias and representativeness that made this review particularly difficult. A

number of other methodological issues pertinent to research on gender

inequality are addressed elsewhere (Husen, Saha and Noonan 1978; Smock 1981;

Mies 1983).

Studies that attempt to quantify the strength of the different

factors affecting, for example, the decision to enroll in a given level of

education, or the probability of obtaining an additional year of schooling,

make use of a two-stage procedure to correct for selection bias, i.e., for

the fact that the members of the sample studied (girls of a particular age

group in school in this instance) are not a random sample of the population

(all girls in that age group). Certain family characteristics are highly

associated with the probability that girls will enroll in school. To assess

the relative strength of school or other factors that affect continuation,

dropout or wastage, it is necessary to control for the faut that girls in

school are a non-random sample from the relevant age cohort. The problem is

perhaps most obvious when dealing with female school populations that are a

small percentage of the relevant age group on a national or regional basis,

but it also pertains when dealing with apparently high enrollment and

persistence rates where there is a divergence in the types of schools males

and females attend. For example, when both coeducational and single-sex

institutions exist, it is very common for single-sex schools to be more

selective, both academically and socially. A finding that girls in single

sex schools have the highest achievement levels (Lockheed and Komenan 1988)

is of limited value unless statistical controls show that this effect remains

when the backgrounds of the students who do attend single-sex schools are

controlled for. Therefore, it is necessary first to correct for the types of

females who either (i) attend school or (ii) attend a certain type or level

of school before one can start to make supported statements about factors

that can increase or decrease enrollment, persistence, attainment or

scholastic performance.

- 49 -

The interconnected structure illustrated in Figure 1 (see p. 4) has

implications for the statistical methods used to analyze any of these

decisions. The dependent variable will usually be categorical, and some kind

of logistic regression would be the most appropriate way to assess the

influence of various background and simultaneous factors on the decisions

being made. The use of correlations, while illustrative and descriptive,

does not give adequate information on the net effect of any particular factor

on the dependent variable. The study by Robertson (1986) illustrated this

problem. She appeared to report simple correlation coefficients19 for b-rth

all countries in her sample and for certain sub-samples that were of interest

to her. It is clear that the use of different samples caused the level of

correlation to shift.

Her solution was not entirely adequate but is superior to some

other studies that made no attempt to control for confounding factors when

trying to identify variables that affected various aspects of women's

educational participation. For example, the attribution to rural/urban

residence of differences in achievement and aspiration in Akande (1987) is

problematical when considering that parental income, parental education,

school quality and labor market opportunities (to name only a few factors)

are also highly correlated with living in urban/rural areas. Cooksey (1981)

made a similar point when he argued that comparisons of school populations

from high and low enrollment areas were generally not valid because children

in low enrollment areas were usually selected based on high ability or high

socio-economic status or both.

For reasons already alluded to, the sampling methods used in

studies should be made explicit. Identifying the number and gender of pupils

is not helpful to even the informed reader when information on the way the

19 This point was not clear. She reported having run a regression, butthe conditions for significance she indicated would apply only to a simplecorrelation matrix.

- 50 -

pupils were selected or their background characteristics are not part of the

report.

Particularly in the section on enrollment, several studies are

cited that made it clear that parents did not regard enrollment decisions or

decisions as to whether a child should continue in school or drop out to be

equivalent for boys and girls (Orubuloye 1987; Nkinyangi 1980; Weis 1981).

Given that the structure of decision-making for educational

enrollment and attaiment differs between the genders, it is not possible to

gain insight into the process for girls by introducing a dummy variable for

gender into a regression. The implicit assumption when this approach is

followed is that the relationship between the two processes is as depicted in

Figure 2. The evidence here suggests it may be more like those in Figures 3

or 4.

To allow for these differences, a simple remedy is separate

analysis of females, preferably including some weighting procedure. The

weighting would correct for the differential access of girls from areas with

more developed educational systems and richer homes.

- 51 -

Figure 2

Figure 3

t~~~~~~~~~~~~i

FB 4

'B G G

- 52 -

APPENDIX 2: SEARCHSTRATEGY

In identifying the studies used here, the following data bases,

bibliographies, indexes and abstracts were searched:

ERICUHI Dissertations AbstractAfricaAfricanaAfrican Studies Association NewsAnthropologv and Education OuarterlyBritish Journal of SociologvCanadian Journal of African StudiesCgmRareComnarative EducationCgmnarative Education ReviewEconomic DeveloDment and Cultural ChanagEonomics of Education Revie-w

International EducationInternational Review of EducationJournal of Modern African StudiesJournal of Teacher EducationNigerian Periodicals Indexnros=ectsReview of Research in Education

Sociology of EducationStudies on Women AbstractsThe Ahfad JournalWest African Journal of EducationWest African Journal of Education and Vocational MeasurementWomen and Development: A Select Bibliographv, Elize MoodyWorld Bank reports and working papers.

- 53 -

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Dixon, R. 1982. "Women in Agriculture: Counting the Labor Force inDeveloping Countries." Population and Develooment Review 8:539-66.

Dreeben, R., and R. Barr. 1988. "The Formation and Instruction of AbilityGroups." Amerigan Journal of Education 97:34-64. Chicago: University ofChicago Press.

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Gordon, L., et al. 1985. "Women in the World of Science and Technology."Working Paper. UNESCO, Paris.

Harding, J. 1985. "Girls and Women in Secondary and Higher Education:Science for Only a Few." Prosoects 15:553-64.

Heyneman, S. 1975. "Influences on Academic Achievement in Uganda: A'Coleman Report' from a Non-industrial Society." Unpublished Ph.D.dissertation. University of Chicago, Chicago.

Husen, T., L.J. Saha and R. Noonan. 1978. Teacher Training and StudentAchievement in Less Developed Counties. World Bank Staff Working PaperNo. 310. Washington, D.C.: World Bank.

Jones, M. T. 1980. "Education of Girls in Tunisia: Policy Implications of theDrive for Universal Enrollment." Comparative Education Review 24:S106-23.

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Knowles, J. 1988. 'Non-formal Education Review: Agriculture." Paperpresented at the Women and Education in Africa Symposium, University ofWisconsin, Madison.

Kossoudji, S. and E. Mueller. 1983. "The Economic and Demographic Status ofFemale-headed Households in Rural Botswana." Economic Develoetnmnt dCultural Change 34:831-59.

Lanzas, A. and P.W. Kingston. 1981. "English Achievement in Zaire: TheEffects of Family Status and Residential Disruption: A Report."Comparative Education Review 25:431-41.

Lockheed, M.E., and A. Komenan. 1988. School Effects on Student Achievementin Nigeria and Swaziland. PPR Working Paper. Washington D.C.: TheWorld Bank.

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Nkinyangi, J. 1980. "Socioeconomic Determinants of Repetition and EarlyWithdrawal at the Primary School Level and Their Implications forEducational Planning in Kenya." Unpublished Ph.D. dissertation.Stanford University, Stanford.

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- 57 -

Orubuloye, 0. 1987. "Values and Costs of Daughters and Sons to YorubaMothers and Fathers." In Sex Roles Population and Development in WestAfrica, edited by C. Oppong. London: Heinemann.

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