To: BigWrite Donations Committee

From: Linda Umwali

Date: March 28, 2017
Subject: Issue Proposal: Girls Education in Sub-Saharan Africa

According to a 2015 World Bank report, Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 47 percent of out-of-
school children worldwide with around 89 million youth, ages 12-24 years out of school. (World
Bank, 2015) A 2016 Global Partnerships for Education report shows that of the 89 million out-
of-school youth in Sub-Saharan Africa, girls make up 53% of all children out of primary school
and 52% of all adolescents out of lower secondary school. (Global Partnerships for Education,
2016) Broadly speaking, the case of massive numbers of out-of-school youths in regions of
Sub-Saharan Africa is accounted for by both social and economic factors such as inadequate
school supplies, disability, and difference in language taught in school and that spoken by
students to mention, but a few.
This memo discusses the access to education programs in Sub-Saharan Africa, challenges facing
girls in attaining education, and suggested efforts on what could be done towards reducing the
number of out-of-school.

ACCESS TO EDUCATION PROGRAMS IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Towards the end of the 20 century and the beginning of the 21 century, various international
th st

development agencies established several working strategies aimed at fostering advancement in

least developed regions of the world, Sub-Saharan Africa included. Among the development
strategies established, was education which led to the creation of the Education for All program
and Universal Primary Education (UPE) program. The long-term goal of both programs was to
have all children in school, getting quality education so that least developed countries could have
a productive and literate population.

Education for All

The Education for All program was initiated during the 1990 World Conference on Education
held Jomtien, Thailand. It identified education as a significant human right and aimed at
lowering illiteracy rates, and making education accessible to all children. To put this plan in
place and achieve it by the year 2000, countries were to focus on three categories which are:
universal access to education, learning outcomes, and learning environment. Following the
Jomtien conference was the 1996 Mid-Decade Meeting on Education for All which examined the
progress that had been made by countries after the goals and strategies to achieve the Education
for All goal. However, by the year 2000, the Education for All goal wasnt attained by various
countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. (Bennell 1179-1181)

Universal Primary Education

Following the failure to achieve the Education for All goals, United Nations Member states
established eight Millennium Development Goals (MDG) in 2000. These goals were established
as means to fight and eradicate poverty in least developed countries of the world. The second of
goal of the MDGs was dedicated to achieving Universal Primary Education. According to the
United Nations plan, the Universal Primary Education goals target was to Ensure that, by 2015,
children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary
Issues Proposal 2 March 28, 2017

schooling (UN Millennium Project, 2). However, by the end of 2015, Universal Primary
Education wasnt fully achieved by developing countries, especially those in Sub-Saharan
Africa.

Shortfalls in Access to Education Programs

The Education for All and Universal Primary Education have led to improvement in access to
primary education in Sub-Saharan Africa. According to the 2015 Millennium Development Goal
Report, Sub-Saharan Africa has had the best record of improvement in primary education of
any region since the MDGs were established. The region achieved a 20% point increase in the
enrollment rate from 2000 to 2015, compared to a gain of 8% points between 1990 and 2000
(2015 Millennium Development Goals Report, 4). Governments of various countries in the
region and various non-governmental organizations have worked with the United Nations and
the World Bank to ensure affordability of education hence, making schools participating in both
of these programs tuition free. This in turn enabled girls, like boys, to have access to education
which wasnt the case before.

However, even with the considerable progress made in increasing access to education for girls
and boys through the above discussed programs, there is still more work to be done with regards
to girls education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Empirical studies have shown that there still remains a
big number of girls out of school and major factors behind this finding include several social
norms and inadequate resources.

Social norms
As suggested by the United Nations International Childrens Emergency Fund (UNICEF),
negative social norms and demands such as, household obligations and child labor to child
marriage, gender-based violence and female genital cutting/mutilation affect and disrupt girls
education and in some instances may force girls to drop out of school. In addition, cultural
beliefs also pose a barrier to girls education through, contributing to a lower value placed on
girls education in some countries, or an expectation that adolescent boys will earn income
instead of attending secondary school in others. (Global Partnerships for Education, 2016)

Inadequate resources
Inadequacy of resources can be looked at from different angles, the first being on the side of
families, and the other being on government. Beginning with inadequacy of resources by
families, due to prevailing poverty within different households in different parts of Sub-Saharan
Africa there is increased demand for child labor. In their study on the effect of child labor on
school enrollment in developing countries, Putnick and Bornstein note that, child labor is a
barrier to achieving Universal Primary Education because poor families need children to work,
which prevents them from attending school. (Putnick and Bornstein, 3) They explain that due to
the preconceived notion that girls are to do domestic work, they are more likely than boys to be
involved in child labor and not enroll in school.

Additionally, due to inadequate family resources when families are forced to make a decision on
who to pay for, priority is given to boys whose education is assumed to be better investment.
Inadequate resources on the part of government involves lack of enough school supplies such as
books, and inadequate sanitation facilities in schools such as lack of private and separate
Issues Proposal 2 March 28, 2017

latrines; and negative classroom environments, where girls may face violence, exploitation or
corporal punishment. (UNICEF 2015 Report)

EDUCATION AS KRY FOR DEVELOPMENT

Education is a human right that increases societys human capital. Communities where
education, girls education in particular, has been emphasized substantial development has been
realized. As a UNICEF report suggests, providing girls with an education helps break the cycle
of poverty: educated women are less likely to marry early and against their will; less likely to die
in childbirth; more likely to have healthy babies; and are more likely to send their children to
school . . . If all girls had secondary education in sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia,
child marriage would fall by 64 per cent, from almost 2.9 million to just over 1 million.
(UNICEF 2015 Report 2)

While girls education has proven to be significant in fostering development in Sub-Saharan

Africa, gender disparities affecting girls education still persist. Therefore as the United Nations
report suggests, Despite enormous progress during the past 15 years, achieving universal
primary education will require renewed attention . . . Drawing on lessons learned from the
MDGs, interventions will have to be tailored to the needs of specific groups of children,
particularly girls . . . by investing in the quality of education and ensuring a sustainable source of
funding are also essential (2015 Millennium Development Goals Report, 4). To improve girls
education in Sub-Saharan Africa will require stronger collaboration between governments of
countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, international development organizations and various non-profit
organizations working towards equal access to education.

CONCLUSION
Given that girls education in Sub-Saharan Africa is key to development which fits with
BigWrites value of making the world a better place, I would like to ask permission to research
and analyze two organizations, Camfed and Forum for African Women Education (FAWE),
working to improve girls education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Along with this request, I also
promise to provide a project report, and I agree to conduct thorough and ethical research in
response to this problem.

WORK CITED
Bennell, Paul. "Hitting the target: doubling primary school enrollments in sub-Saharan Africa
by 2015." World Development 30.7 (July 2002): 1179-1194. Expanded Academic ASAP.
Web. 22 Mar. 2017.
"Half of Youth in Sub-Saharan Africa Are out of School." World Bank. 15 July 2015. Web.
21Mar. 2017.

Putnick, Diane L., and Marc H. Bornstein. "Is child labor a barrier to school enrollment in low-
and middle-income countries?." International journal of educational development 41
(2015): 112-120. Expanded Academic ASAP. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.

"Out-of-school Children." Global Partnership for Education, Sept. 2016. Web. 21 Mar. 2017.
Issues Proposal 2 March 28, 2017

"Girls' Education and Gender Equality." UNICEF. 23 July 2015. Web. 25 Mar. 2017.

"UN Millennium Project | Goals, Targets & Indicators". 2006. Web. 24 Mar. 2017

United Nations, 2015. The Millennium Development Goals Report 2015