Publication: Girls and Schools in Sub-Saharan Africa : From Analysis to Action
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1996-01
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1996-01
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The review of the literature demonstrates the variation, complexity and inter-relatedness of the factors that constrain female education in Africa. These factors are similar to yet different from those exhibited elsewhere in the developing world. There is a growing body of scholarly review of strategies to enhance female education and their efficacy. On the supply side, these practices include building more schools, improving the school environment, training more female teachers, and removing gender bias in textbooks. On the demand side, they include launching information campaigns to promote the benefits of female education and providing stipends and scholarships as incentives to parents. The following table presents a summary of some of these promising strategies. The study draws several conclusions from this detailed catalogue of policy and program approaches: First, it is difficult to assess the cost-effectiveness of most of the initiatives. Second, since girls' education is constrained by several related factors at the home, school, community and government levels, the most promising approaches appear to be those which address supply and demand-side factors simultaneously. Third, most of the successful initiatives have been conceived and managed by non-governmental organizations on a relatively small scale with little direct government involvement but with strong community engagement. Fourth, the success of many of the initiatives must be treated cautiously as their effectiveness has yet to be proven. Fifth, despite this growing body of knowledge about the complex problems of female education, few significant programs and projects have been implemented to reduce the gender gap in education, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, and those implemented have had limited impact.
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“World Bank. 1996. Girls and Schools in Sub-Saharan Africa : From Analysis to Action. Africa Region Findings & Good Practice Infobriefs; No. 54. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/9979 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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