Why do up to twice as many boys as girls enrol in primary schools in some parts of Africa? Institute of Development Studies researchers report on joint studies with Ministry of Education officials in Ethiopia, Guinea and Tanzania. They show that this gender gap in enrolments is widespread. Even where it has narrowed in early learning, it can reappear at other levels. The studies analyse what causes the gap and suggest new ways to counteract it.

Africa has made broadly successful efforts in the past 30 years to boost numbers of school and college entrants. But levels of education in Africa remain the lowest in the world. Almost half the children of primary school age are not enrolled - and some two-thirds of non-starters are girls. In terms of development progress, educating girls is widely held to yield optimum economic and social rewards, yet girls are missing out.

Following a period of war and instability in Ethiopia, national recovery is now evident but only 24 percent of all seven to 12-year-old children were in school by 1994. The enrolment rate for males was much higher, at 30 percent, than for girls (19 percent). Although primary school places and enrolments have been picking up, the gender gap has been growing, too. In Guinea, primary enrolment rates are higher (40 percent), but are skewed 2:1 in favour of boys. Also higher among girls are rates of drop-out and repetition. Enrolment rates in Tanzania are much higher at primary level (82 percent) and girls actually outnumber boys. The gap arises at secondary level and up, where places become scarcer.

However, in all three countries it appears that scarcity of school or college places, though it can favour boys, is not the key obstacle. Various biased attitudes and constraints within schools (the 'supply side') and in communities or families (the 'demand side') combine to keep school-age girls at home.

Major reasons behind the gender gap were:

• High opportunity costs of education, affecting boys and girls but in dissimilar ways
• High direct cost of schooling to families, limiting options even when places abound
• Home factors: wary parental views on schooling of girls, risk of early pregnancy
• Distance to school: parents fear additionally for the safety of girls while travelling
• Social factors like early marriage, religion or cultural beliefs about women's roles
• Lack of female teachers or governors: scant gender awareness among teachers.

Policy solutions prescribed in the reports include:

• Introduce subsidised incentives for female pupils, to reduce family cost burdens
• Cut the official starting age for all pupils from its present seven years to six
• Adjust school hours so girls required to help at home can still attend classes
• Recruit more female teachers both as educators and role models
• Urge parents to join PTAs and encourage female participation on school boards
• Promote gender awareness and bar gender stereotyping from school textbooks
• Introduce double-shifting and multi-grading to make fuller use of existing schools.

Source(s):
1. Gender and primary schooling in Ethiopia. IDS Research Report #31, P. Rose et al (1997)
2. Gender and Primary Schooling in Guinea. IDS Research Report #32, M. Tembon et al (1997)
3. Gender and Primary Schooling in Tanzania. IDS Research Report, T. Peasgood et al (in press, 1997)

Funded by: Rockefeller Foundation, USA (1995-1997)

id21 Research Highlight: 1997-Dec-01

Further Information:
C. Colclough (Project Director), S. Al-Samarrai, P. Rose, M.Tembon
Institute of Development Studies
University of Sussex
Brighton BN1 9RE
UK

Tel: +44 (0)1273 606261
Fax: +44 (0)1273 621202
Contact the contributor: ids@sussex.ac.uk

Institute of Development Studies (IDS), UK