Gender Equity in Junior and Senior Secondary Education in Sub-Saharan Africa Book

Foreword

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations and Acronyms

Executive Summary

Resume Analytique

Introduction 1

Objectives of the Study 1

Scope and Content 1

Constraints of the Study 2

The Global and Regional Context 2

The Essence of Adolescence 4

1 Participation in Secondary Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: The Global Picture 7

EFA and Secondary Education 7

Definition of Terms 8

Gender Equity and Education 8

Secondary Education in SSA 9

Primary Completion and the Transition to Lower Secondary Education 10

Gender Disparity in Secondary Education: A Widening Gap 11

2 Factors Affecting the Participation of Girls in Secondary Education 21

Economic Policies, Growth, and Development 21

Equity, Financial Measures, and Good Governance 23

Making Girls' Schooling Affordable: The Impact of Fees 25

The Bottleneck Effect 26

The School Environment 27

Sociocultural Barriers 31

Violence against Girls 35

The Unreached 36

Summary of Factors 36

3 Promotion of Female Participation in Secondary Education 37

Two Policy Challenges 37

State Policy and the Promotion of Female Participation in Secondary Education 40

4 Institutions Addressing the Issue of Secondary Education 47

CAMFED 47

The Role of Civil Society: The FAWE Approach 49

FAWE Centres of Excellence: Making the Case for the Holistic Approach 50

Challenges of the COE Concept 54

5 Concluding Observations 57

Quality Factor 57

Importance of Intersectoral Approaches 57

Involvement of Students 58

Expanding Opportunities 58

Taking Best Practices to Scale 59

References 61

List of Tables

1 GER at Junior Secondary School Level in Senegal, 2000 11

2 Trends inBasic or Proxy Indicators to Measure EFA Goals 4 and 5 12

3 Share of Children 15-19 Who Have Completed Primary School, by Gender (percent) 18

4 General Performance in Mathematics in Tanzania, 2000 28

5 Subject Enrollment for the Malawi Secondary School Leaving Examination, by Gender 28

6 Reasons for the Low Participation of Girls in Science, Maths, and Technological Subjects in Ghana 29

7 National Open Apprenticeship Scheme, Edo State, Nigeria 30

8 Manazini Industrial Training Center Enrollment, 1990/91, Swaziland 30

9 Final Baccalaurµp4sate (Senior High School) Results in TVE in Burkina Faso (1992) 32

10 Details of Performance by Subject Area-High School Results in TVE in Burkina Faso (1992) 33

11 Factors Affecting Disparities in Secondary Education 35

12 A Summary of Obstacles and Possible Strategies for Overcoming Them 38

13 A National Vision for Girls' Education in Ghana: Gender Targets Set by the Girls' Education Unit, 2001 40

14 Female Participation Rates at Various Level of Education: 1998/90-2000/01 42

15 MOE/GEU Interventions in Girls' Education 43

16 Gender Activities by Development Partners 44

17 FAWE Pilot Centres of Excellence at a Glance 53

18 Costs of the Centres of Excellence 55

List of Boxes

1 Summary of Factors Affecting Disparities in Secondary Education

2 EFA and MDG Goals Related to Secondary Education for Girls 3