Authors : Quentin Wodon, Chata Male, and Adenike Onagoruwa
Site of publication : https://www.unesco.org/fr
Type of publication : Report
Date of publication : January 2024
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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. This report has two objectives: (1) to update and expand a previous investment case for educating girls and ending child marriage and (2) to explore the crucial role of teachers and school leaders in doing so.
Investment case
The first part of this study updates a previous investment case for educating girls and ending child marriage. Six domains of potential benefits from improving educational opportunities for girls are considered
Earnings and standards of living
Educational attainment has large positive effects on women’s earnings in adulthood, especially beyond primary education. This report confirms previous findings, with additional information on the importance of literacy apart from primary education, albeit with higher returns to primary education in some countries.
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. The report included simple statistical decompositions illustrating how once they were married, very few girls were able to remain in school. Even if some girls get married after dropping out of school, child marriage is also a factor leading girls to drop out of school. Estimates for this report are similar, but to suggest how close relationships between girls’ education, child marriage, and early childbearing tend to be, simple visuals may be most telling.
Fertility and population growth
The potential impact of educational attainment on total fertility is large.
The relationship between child marriage and total fertility is also strong. Part of the potential effect of educational attainment on total fertility may come from the use of modern contraceptive methods. Under universal secondary education, the increase in modern contraception use nationally is estimated at 6.3 percent on average for countries where potential impacts are statistically significant. The association between child marriage and the use of modern contraceptive methods is weaker than for educational attainment. 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. On average across countries, their annual rate of growth was reduced by 0.22 percentage points in the simulations if child marriage and early childbearing were eliminated, but in some countries like Niger, the potential effect was larger.
Health, nutrition and well-being
A lack of educational attainment for girls may have negative impacts on their health in adulthood. 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. Child marriage affects early childbearing, which in turn increases the risk of maternal mortality and morbidity. A mother’s educational attainment may also affect the risks of under-five mortality and stunting (low height for age) for her children, but these effects are not systematic.
Social capital and institutions
Educating girls and ending child marriage may have a range of other beneficial effects, including for social capital and institutions. In the 2018 report, the economic analysis focused on the cost of child marriage. The gains in wealth per capita that could result from lower population growth by ending child marriage were estimated at US$ 26 billion in the first year of ending child marriage (for 13 countries). The costs of gender inequality, including the contribution to inequality of low educational attainment for girls and child marriage, are however likely much larger.
The role of teachers and school leaders
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. Today in sub-Saharan Africa, nine in ten children aged 10 are deemed to be learning poor. 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.
The analysis in this part of the report focuses mostly on West Africa for four reasons.
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.
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. Today in sub-Saharan Africa, nine in ten children aged 10 are deemed to be learning poor. 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
Multiple factors may lead some children to never enroll in school, but schools not being accessible, cost, and social norms (whether a child is too young to start school) are key factors. 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. Qualitative data also suggest that lack of learning is a major factor leading children to drop out.
Supporting and empowering teachers and school leaders including women
Strategies to Improve Learning
If lack of learning leads many girls (and boys) to drop out, improving learning is a priority. Guidance is available to do so. How can learning be improved for girls (and for boys since what works may be similar for both; see Evans and Yuan, 2022)? The World Bank (2020a) blueprint for realizing the future of learning is a good start : (1) Learners are prepared and motivated to lear; (2) Teachers are effective and valued; (3) Learning resources, including curricula, are diverse and of high quality; (4) Schools are safe and inclusive spaces; and (5) Education systems are well-managed.
Another report provides recommendations on cost-effective approaches to improve learning. The recommendations are made by the Global Education Evidence Advisory Panel. The panel classified interventions to improve learning in low- and middle-income countries into four classes : Great buys; Good buys; Promising low evidence interventions; Bad buys; Effective but expensive buys. 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.
Role of Teachers
The great, good, and promising buys identified in the World Bank report must be implemented by teachers with adequate training. A review of successful programs improving student learning suggests that these programs have common characteristics : For literacy programs, 10 characteristics of successful programs were identified: the programs focus on training teachers in modeling and practicing new skills, include structured teachers’ guides, have coaches providing structured tools to support teachers, use face-to-face training methods… For numeracy programs, 14 characteristics of successful programs were identified: the programs include learning aids for students (e.g., counters, number cards, etc.), have materials aligned to the curriculum, use structured teacher’s guides (scripted lessons)… A common feature of many successful programs is to train teachers in practicing new skills using structured pedagogy.
Several explanations could be advanced for the positive effect of female teachers and school leaders on learning outcomes, but this effect may be related in part to their occupational and income status. While teachers’ education and training and their gender matter for student learning, most countries are doing poorly on those dimensions. In primary schools, about four in ten teachers are women, but the proportion drops to less than one in five at the secondary level.
Better professional development for teachers requires a range of approaches, but they should include gender-sensitive components, including for preventing school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV). Another key gender sensitive component of professional development for teachers and school leaders is gender-responsive pedagogy (GRP). GRP encourages teachers to adopt a gender-sensitive approach by comprehending the distinct needs of both boys and girls, recognizing that gender identity is not a homogeneous construct.
Role of School Leaders
To train and motivate teachers and improve pedagogy and learning in the classroom, the role of school leaders is essential.Education International (2015) argues for collaborative, collegial, and co-operative leadership, involving leaders, administrators, teachers, education support personnel and the pedagogical community. School leadership also makes a difference for parental involvement in schools –a challenge in many countries in sub-Saharan African and yet another factor associated with better outcomes for students.
Several explanations could be advanced for the positive effect of female teachers and school leaders on learning outcomes, but this effect may be related in part to their occupational and income status. While teachers’ education and training and their gender matter for student learning, most countries are doing poorly on those dimensions. In primary schools, about four in ten teachers are women, but the proportion drops to less than one in five at the secondary level
A recent review points to the importance of Africa-specific styles of leadership. Effective school leadership tends to be understood as helping schools achieve their goals, but most of the research is driven by international scholars typically focusing on ‘transformational’ leadership. There is a lack of evidence on whether these programs are working, and most programs are small and fragmented. Few African countries have policies in place for school leadership.
Strengthening national professional standards and competencies
Teachers and school leaders are key to improve girls’ education and thereby end child marriage, but professional standards and competencies are needed to strengthen the profession and career paths.
West Africa Study
The West Africa study focuses on three areas: (1) framework of professional standards and competencies; (2) teacher education; and (3) the working conditions of teachers. On professional standards and competencies for teachers and school leaders, many countries in West Africa still need to make progress. The analysis targeted 15 ECOWAS countries. Most countries have legal or policy provisions that support the establishment of a national framework of teaching standards and competencies, but they are at various stages of this process and have not aligned their frameworks with recommendations from the African Union Commission and UNESCO.
On teacher education, using the EHCVM survey, a profile of the education and other characteristics of teachers was provided. As mentioned in the previous section, the analysis of household survey data for WAEMU countries suggests (1) a low proportion of women among teachers; (2) low levels of education, particularly for primary school teachers, but with little difference between public and private schools; (3) a minority but nonetheless significant proportion of teachers in rural areas with limited internet access. On working conditions for teachers, using again the EHCVM survey, a profile of the salaries, benefits, and levels of poverty of teachers was also provided. Data from the online survey of the Ministry of Education and other officials suggests that the teaching profession is not well perceived in terms of its social status, with job satisfaction likely to be low for many teachers.