Authors: Quentin Wodon, Chata Male, and Adenike Onagoruwa
Affiliated organization: UNESCO International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa, African Union, Global Gateway
Type of publication: Report
Date of publication: January 2024
Despite substantial progress over the last two decades, girls in Africa still have on average lower levels of educational attainment than boys in many countries. Globally, according to data for 2022 from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, nine in ten girls complete their primary education, and over three in four complete their lower secondary education. The proportions are much lower in Africa, and especially in sub-Saharan Africa where despite progress, just over two-thirds of girls complete their primary education, and only four in ten complete lower secondary school.
A special focus needs to be placed on girls, not only because they often continue to lag behind boys in Africa, but also because the consequences for them of dropping out of school are especially severe as girls dropping out of school face much higher risks of child marriage and early childbearing.
Low educational attainment for girls and child marriage both have large negative impacts on a wide range of development outcomes.
Part I: Investment Case
Six domains of potential benefits from improving educational opportunities for girls are considered: earnings and standards of living; child marriage and early childbearing; fertility and population growth; health, nutrition, and well-being; agency and decision-making; and social capital and institutions.
Earnings and Standards of living
Educational attainment has large positive effects on women’s earnings in adulthood, especially beyond primary education.
First, women with primary education (partial or completed) earned only slightly more than those with no education at all depending on the model used for the estimations. By contrast, women with secondary education could expect to make more than twice as much, and women with tertiary education almost five times as much as those with no education.
A special focus needs to be placed on girls, not only because they often continue to lag behind boys in Africa, but also because the consequences for them of dropping out of school are especially severe as girls dropping out of school face much higher risks of child marriage and early childbearing
Child marriage and early childbearing
There are strong relationships between girls’ education and child marriage; child marriage and early childbearing; and girls’ education and early childbearing. Keeping girls in school helps in reducing child marriage. Other factors also play a role, including gender-based social norms, but analysis of DHS data for 2018 report suggested that across 13 African countries, each additional year of secondary school could reduce the likelihood of marrying as a child by 7.5 percentage points on average.
Probably in part because of the link between education and child marriage, the econometric analysis also suggested that each additional year of secondary education could reduce the risk of early childbearing by 6.6 percentage points.
Fertility and Population growth
The potential impact of educational attainment on total fertility is large. The association between child marriage and the use of modern contraceptive methods is weaker than for educational attainment. Recall again that when achieving universal secondary education, child marriage could be drastically reduced, if not eliminated. Marrying early may reduce contraceptive use if women are not able to rely on contraception in their household.
Through their potential impact on total fertility, improving girls’ educational attainment and ending child marriage would reduce population growth. Especially in low-income countries with limited arable land or water, high population growth may threaten long-term prosperity and exacerbate competition for access to scarce natural resources. High population growth may also weaken the ability of governments to provide basic services of quality to a growing population, including education, health, nutrition, and basic infrastructure.
Health, Nutrition, and Well-being
A lack of educational attainment for girls may have negative impacts on their health in adulthood. Low educational attainment may be associated with a lack of women’s decision-making ability for healthcare and a lack of knowledge about health. Other risks relate among others to malnutrition, isolation, depression, and an inability to negotiate sexual and reproductive behaviors with partners, including through a lack of access to modern contraception as noted earlier.
The potential effects of educational attainment on knowledge of HIV/AIDS are statistically significant in most countries, with higher effects when women have completed their secondary education. Simulations suggest that under universal secondary education, there could be an increase in the index of knowledge of HIV/AIDS nationally of 8.6 percentage points in countries where the potential effect is statistically significant.
Child marriage affects early childbearing, which in turn increases the risk of maternal mortality and morbidity. For example, a lack of physical maturity when giving birth may lead to complications such as obstructed or prolonged labor as well as fistula.
A mother’s educational attainment may also affect the risks of under-five mortality and stunting for her children, but these effects are not systematic. Early childhood is critical for a child’s development. Poor conditions early in life affect brain development and capabilities, with lasting consequences in adulthood, including the ability to earn a decent wage.
A lack of educational attainment for girls may have negative impacts on their health in adulthood. Low educational attainment may be associated with a lack of women’s decision-making ability for healthcare and a lack of knowledge about health
Educational attainment and child marriage may have a wide range of other effects on women’s wellbeing. Although this was not updated for this report, the 2018 report used Gallup World Poll data to assess the potential impact of educational attainment on psychological well-being. In comparison to women with only a primary education or less, secondary education was systematically associated with an increase in positive outcomes and a decrease in negative outcomes.
Women’s agency and decision-making
Educational attainment for women affects their agency and decision-making ability. A woman’s capacity for choice depends on agency, access to resources, and past achievements. Low educational attainment may have a potential impact on resources, for example by reducing earnings. It may also affect past achievements as well as capabilities, again when it reduces the types of employment that women have access to.
Social capital and Institutions
Educating girls and ending child marriage may have a range of other beneficial effects, including for social capital and institutions.
Social capital may be affected by educational attainment. Friendships made in late secondary school and tertiary education can be important for the transition to adulthood. Questions are asked in the Gallup World Poll on whether women are satisfied with their opportunities to make friends and whether they can rely on these friends when in need. In both cases, the likelihood of this being the case increased with educational attainment after controlling for a wide range of other factors that could affect these likelihoods, including relying on friends when in need.
Satisfaction with and trust in institutions may also be affected by educational attainment. The analysis suggested that a higher level of educational attainment was associated with lower satisfaction with basic services, less confidence in institutions, a perception that corruption was widespread, a concern that freedom of the press could be limited, and lower approval ratings for leaders.
Part II: Role of Teachers and School Leaders
Introduction
The 2018 report on educating girls and ending child marriage included a brief discussion of policy options with a focus on delaying child marriage and early childbearing. While interventions for adolescent girls’ matter, recently, a stronger emphasis has been placed on the issue of lack of foundational learning in primary school.
The 2018 World Development Report, the first on education, made it clear that education systems were faced with a learning crisis which was recently exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. Today in sub-Saharan Africa, nine in ten children aged 10 are deemed to be learning poor, which means that they cannot read and understand an age-appropriate text.
Considering high levels of learning poverty, a simple argument can be made emphasizing the role of teachers and school leaders in educating girls and ending child marriage.
Focus on West Africa
The analysis in this part of the report focuses mostly on West Africa for four reasons. The first is that West Africa is home to many of the countries with the lowest level of educational attainment for girls and the highest prevalence of child marriage. The second is the availability of rich data. The third is the fact that a rise in conflict and violent extremism in some countries may be especially detrimental to girls. The fourth is that West Africa, and especially francophone countries, are often neglected in applied research.
For example, Niger is the country with the highest prevalence of child marriage in the world.
Today in sub-Saharan Africa, nine in ten children aged 10 are deemed to be learning poor, which means that they cannot read and understand an age-appropriate text
There has been a rise in conflicts and violent extremism in Africa with devastating effects on the population, including high risks for some girls to drop out of school and get married as children.
Step 1: Understanding How Lack of Learning in School Leads to Drop-out
The first step in the argument consists of demonstrating that lack of learning is a key factor leading girls (and boys) to drop out of school. To understand the approach, a simple conceptual framework is useful.
Five conditions or sequential steps needed for children to go to school and learn enough in school so that they can complete their education:
(1) schools must have the capacity to accommodate students and be accessible (including through transport and housing services when schools are located far away);
(2) schooling must be affordable given the potential out-of-pocket and opportunity cost of schooling;
(3) going to school must be safe (including from violence, although data on school violence are not available in the survey used for the estimates) and children must be able to thrive in school without hindrance from harmful social norms;
(4) children must be able to learn in school – this refers not only to traditional academic subjects, but also to social-emotional and life skills (in addition, parents’ preferences for the type of school and what children should learn in school must also be taken into account);
(5) pregnant and married girls should be allowed to stay in school, and for both boys and girls alike, second chance programs should be available for dropouts whose circumstances do not allow them to return to school.
For children who enrolled in school and dropped out, lack of learning was a key factor especially at the primary and lower secondary levels, even if social norms also play a role, especially for girls.
In Niger, ethnographic work suggests that six main obstacles lead most girls to not pursue their education beyond the primary level:
(1) Poor learning outcomes and cost. Rural government schools are so poor in quality and resources that many children graduate from primary school without learning to read. The schools do not charge tuition, but parents complain that the cost of uniforms, guard fees, transport, lunches, and the opportunity costs of losing their daughters’ labor are hardly worth the poor learning outcomes they see.
(2) Failure at examinations. Students can only take the primary school completion exam twice. If they fail, they are ineligible to continue in public education.
(3) Lack of nearby secondary schools. Few rural communities have their own secondary school and there are few boarding schools serving communities. Parents must send their children to nearby towns and cover the costs of transportation and room and board.
(4) Forced withdrawal of married adolescents. Once a girl is married, she is likely to be expelled from school. Husbands show little interest in supporting their adolescent wife’s education especially if they must enroll in a private school. This is an expense that they cannot afford.
(5) Never enrolling in school or enrolling too late. Some families never enroll girls in school, perhaps in part because parents had no educational opportunities themselves. In some cases, teachers may refuse to enroll children that are considered too old to start primary school.
(6) Influence of relatives and demands on first daughters. Extended family members may influence parents on the value of educating girls, not always with positive outcomes. Being the first daughter lessens a girl’s chances of going to school as they are expected to help their mother at home during the day.
Step 2: Supporting and Empowering Teachers and School Leaders, Including Women
On targeting interventions towards girls, the World Bank report notes that while girls may benefit from non-targeted interventions, they may also continue to face girl-specific barriers.
Only 8 percent of women ages 18-24 had completed primary school and just 5 percent had completed secondary school. In contrast, more than twice as many men of this age range had completed primary school (17 percent) and secondary school (14 percent).
While specific interventions may improve learning, analysis of PASEC 2019 data for West Africa suggests that the overall quality of teachers and school leaders and their gender also matter.
Violence in schools affects learning negatively and leads some children to drop out of school. Being the victim of violence in school also has a wide range of other negative effects, including for health (not sleeping well, headaches, injuries from corporal punishment, and poor mental health) and engaging in risky behaviors (using drugs and alcohol or having sex at a younger age, and even considering suicide).