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Saturday, November 24, 2007

How are girls doing?: Success and Challenges

Girls’ enrollments tend to go upwards. Thirty years ago, girls represented 38 percent of primary enrollments in low-income countries and boys, 62 percent. Today, the gender gap has narrowed with girls representing 48 percent and boys 52 percent of primary enrollments(OECD/UNESCO, 2005). Gross enrollment rates for girls in some low-income countries have gone from 52 percent to 94 percent over that same period. These averages, however, hide sharp differences among regions and countries.

Between 1999 and 2004, the worldwide number of children not in school declined rapidly from about 100 million to 77 million. Three-quarters of the decrease (16.7 million) took place between 2002 and 2004. However, girls still constitute 57% of all out-of-school children, down from 59% in 1999. Worldwide, for every 100 boys out-of-school there are 117 girls. Gender disparities in education still remain prevalent in the Arab States (134 girls out-of-school for every 100 boys), South and West Asia (129), and countries like Yemen (184), Iraq (176), India (136), and Benin (136) (UNESCO, 2006). Gender differential access to school is usually caused by poverty, adverse cultural practices, schooling quality and distance to schools. However, there are some emerging challenges that reduce girls’ enrollment in primary, secondary and tertiary education. These are: HIV/AIDS, conflicts, emergencies and other fragile situations, gender-based violence, and information technology gender gap.

Gender disparities still remain in both primary enrollment and school completion rates. However, many low-income countries have registered improvements in primary school completion rates, with an average increase of 6 percent (from 65 percent in 1990 to 71 percent in 2003) (World Bank, EdStats, 2005). The completion rate for girls rose by 9 percentage points, from 57 percent in 1990 to 66 percent in 2004, whereas the primary school completion rates for boys increased only from 75 percent to 76 percent during the same period (World Bank, EdStats, 2005).

The MDG goal of gender parity in primary and secondary education by 2005 was not met in most regions; however, there is substantial cause for optimism. Most of the developing countries are on course for closing gender gap in primary enrollment by 2015 if they continue at present rates of progress in enrollment and attendance rates. In order to achieve gender equality by 2015, more attention will need to be focused on access to include provision at the secondary and tertiary education levels, retention, quality, learning outcomes and relevance of education at all levels . Strategic directions for accelerating gender equality in education also include emphasize on monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of interventions as well as their impact.

Why is girls' education important?

There are several compelling benefits associated with girls’ education, which include the reduction of child and maternal mortality, improvement of child nutrition and health, lower fertility rates, enhancement of women’s domestic role and their political participation, improvement of the economic productivity and growth, and protection of girls from HIV/AIDS, abuse and exploitation. Girls’ education yields some of the highest returns of all development investments, yielding both private and social benefits that accrue to individuals, families, and society at large by

* Reducing women’s fertility rates. Women with formal education are much more likely to use reliable family planning methods, delay marriage and childbearing, and have fewer and healthier babies than women with no formal education. It is estimated that one year of female schooling reduces fertility by 10 percent. The effect is particularly pronounced for secondary schooling.
* Lowering infant and child mortality rates. Women with some formal education are more likely to seek medical care, ensure their children are immunized, be better informed about their children's nutritional requirements, and adopt improved sanitation practices. As a result, their infants and children have higher survival rates and tend to be healthier and better nourished.
* Lowering maternal mortality rates. Women with formal education tend to have better knowledge about health care practices, are less likely to become pregnant at a very young age, tend to have fewer, better-spaced pregnancies, and seek pre- and post-natal care. It is estimated that an additional year of schooling for 1,000 women helps prevent two maternal deaths.
* Protecting against HIV/AIDS infection. Girls’ education ranks among the most powerful tools for reducing girls’ vulnerability. It slows and reduces the spread of HIV/AIDS by contributing to female economic independence, delayed marriage, family planning, and work outside the home, as well as conveying greater information about the disease and how to prevent it.
* Increasing women’s labor force participation rates and earnings. Education has been proven to increase income for wage earners and increase productivity for employers, yielding benefits for the community and society.
* Creating intergenerational education benefits. Mothers’ education is a significant variable affecting children’s education attainment and opportunities. A mother with a few years of formal education is considerably more likely to send her children to school. In many countries each additional year of formal education completed by a mother translates into her children remaining in school for an additional one-third to one-half year.

Girls’ education and the promotion of gender equality in education are vital to development, and policies and actions that do not address gender disparities miss critical development opportunities.