"What Works in Girls' Education: Evidence and Policies from the Developing World"

Abstract

One of the silent killers attacking the developing world is the lack of quality basic education for large numbers of the poorest children in the world’s poorest countries — particularly girls. Yet unlike many of the world’s most grievous ailments, this is a disease with a known cure. We know what tools are needed and what models are proven to work. We also know that the cost of that cure – perhaps $7.5 billion to $10 billion per year — is minuscule compared with the enormous benefits such education would bring for health, economics, women’s empowerment, and basic human dignity. An estimated 110 million children — 60 percent of them girls — between the ages of six and 11 will not see the inside of a classroom this year. Another 150 million are likely to drop out before completing primary school. More than half of all girls in sub-Saharan Africa do not complete primary school, and only 17 percent are enrolled in secondary school. Rates in rural areas are even worse. For instance, a 1996 study in Niger found that only 12 percent of girls in rural areas were enrolled in primary school, compared with 83 percent of girls in the capital. The situation can be even worse for vulnerable children. In developing nations, those with disabilities and those affected by AIDS face even greater obstacles to education, while orphaned children are less likely to be enrolled in school than their peers who live with at least one parent. Only six percent of children in refugee camps are enrolled in secondary education, and opportunities for internally displaced children are even more limited. Access is only part of the story. The other crucial factor is quality. As highlighted by ―Education for All: The Quality Imperative,‖ the 2005 Global Monitoring Report by UNESCO, too many children leave school without mastering a basic set of skills. Ensuring a decent quality of education is an essential component of reform.

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