The Inexcusable Absence of Girls in School

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The Inexcusable Absence of Girls in School

• Marlaine Lockheed
• Center for Global Development
• World Bank Global Symposium
• October 2, 2007

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(No Transcript)
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Schooling Trends are Improving in the Developing
World

• Girls schooling has traditionally lagged that of
  boys, but girls are catching up
• Excluded children still lag
• Excluded girls are the least likely to go to
  school
• Extra efforts are required to reach excluded
  children, particularly excluded girls

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Gender Parity in Primary Enrollments Rose Between
1960 and 2000
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Gender Parity Improved at Secondary Level in Most
Regions, 1990-2000
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So, What is the Problem?

• About 77 million children of school age are still
  out of school (but down from about 98 million in
  1999)
• A plurality (57) of those out of school are
  girls 43 million in 2004
• About 70 percent of the girls who are out of
  school come from socially excluded groups

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Socially Excluded Girls as Estimated Share of All
Girls Out of School, by Region
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Who are the Socially Excluded Groups?

• Stigmatized groups
• Ethnically different groups
• Groups accorded low status
• Involuntary minority groups

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Pakistan Fewer Baluchi/ Pathan rural females
complete primary school than any other group,
1995-2002
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Rural-Male-Other
Rural female- Other
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Guatemala Indigenous girls are least likely to
have ever enrolled in school
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Benin Non-Fon/French-speaking males have caught
up with Fon/French speaking females, but
non-Fon/French speaking females still lag
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Malawi The gender gap has become an ethnic gap
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Ghana The gender gap has become an ethnic gap
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Roma complete fewer years of school than non-Roma
in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, Serbia/Montenegro
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New Zealand More females complete 6th Form or
higher, but Maoris lag Europeans, 2001
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As for learning, when given the chance to go to
school

• Girls achievement is comparable, and in some
  cases better, than that of boys
• But the achievement of excluded children is
  generally lower than that of mainstream children

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Quechua Girls Outperform Quechua Boys in 5th
Grade, Peru 2000
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Indigenous Girls Outperform Indigenous Boys in
Ecuador
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Hill Tribe Girls Performance Same as Hill Tribe
Boys Performance in Laos
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Why are Socially Excluded Girls not in School?

• Three main reasons typically offered
• Legal or administrative barriers
• Low demand for girls education
• Poor quality and limited supply of education
• Another reason within-country heterogeneity

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Male-Female Gap in Primary Completion Rates
Larger in Heterogeneous Countries
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Primary Completion and Learning and
Ethnolinguistic Fractionalization (elasticities)
Significant at the 10 percent level.
Significant at the 5 percent level.
Significant at the 1 percent level. Note Figures
in brackets are t-statistics.
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Significant at the 10 percent level.
Significant at the 5 percent level.
Significant at the 1 percent level.
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Ethno-linguistic Fractionalization and Learning
Achievement, Various Countries
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The Challenge Getting and Keeping Disadvantaged
Children in School

• In all countries disadvantaged children lag
  behind in school, and girls do so
  disproportionately
• Enrollment
• Completion/Graduation
• Performance
• Excluded girls go to school, stay in school and
  do better than boys when given the opportunity

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How Heterogeneity Affects Schooling

• Legal and administrative barriers
• Fixed number of schools per community
• Pregnancy and expulsion
• Dominant group language as medium of instruction
  and in textbooks
• Lack of schools in remote communities
• Selection examinations and tracking

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How Heterogeneity Affects Schooling (cont.)

• Supply and Quality of schooling
• Less knowledgeable teachers
• Less instructional time
• Teacher absenteeism
• Fewer textbooks and instructional materials
• Particularly in local languages
• Inadequate facilities and physical inputs

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How Heterogeneity Affects Schooling (cont.)

• Weak demand for education
• cultural considerations
• Safety and security of girls
• Perceived low rates of return for education
• Discrimination in labor markets
• Social-psychological considerations
• Stereotype threat in performance situations
• Expectations and interaction in the classroom

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What has Worked in Developing Country Settings?

• Anti-discrimination limited but important
• Compensatory instruction outside of school rather
  than affirmative action
• Pre-school
• Bi-lingual programs
• Community schools/non-formal education
• Radio or television extension courses
• Better inputs for poorer performing schools
  teachers, books, materials

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What Else has Worked in Developing Country
Settings?

• Curriculum reform to integrate alternative
  cultural issues
• Creative options English, computer skills
• Parental and community involvement in schools
• Incentives for households CCT
• DONT have separate schools for the disadvantaged
  (can be true for girls too)

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Practical Donor Actions to Promote Education for
Excluded Girls

• Support the production of school participation
  and achievement data disaggregated by gender and
  exclusion
• Establish a trust fund for multilateral programs
  targeted at excluded girls
• Encourage demand and financing for compensatory
  costs associate with reaching excluded children
• Expand the knowledge base through a girls
  education evaluation fund