Household constraints on schooling by gender: empirical evidence from Ethiopia
Rose, P.; Samer, A.S.marrai
Comparative Education Review 45(1): 36-63
2001
ISSN/ISBN: 0010-4086 DOI: 10.1086/447644Document Number: 530521
This paper seeks to identify some of the important individual and household characteristics determining the probability of a child attending and completing primary school in Ethiopia, and to see how these characteristics differ by gender. Following a review of the literature on gender and primary schooling in Ethiopia, data from a survey are used to examine the characteristics that have a significant impact on the probability of a boy or a girl attending and completing primary school in East Gojjam zone (Amhara region) and Jimma zone (Oromiya region). 213 pupils, 115 dropouts and 160 nonenrolees were surveyed. The results are complemented by findings from qualitative research that examines the ways in which cultural and school-related constraints interact with economic factors to provide important explanations for the persistence of the gender gap in enrolment. Overall, the results suggest that the wealth of the household, the nutritional status of the child, and mother's and father's education have an important effect on the probability of a child attending school. Similar factors are also shown to affect completion, although mother's and father's education have less influence; starting school at an earlier age and, for girls, not repeating a grade, significantly increase the chances of completion. The results also indicate that the probability of attending and completing school is lower for girls than for boys in economically constrained households with illiterate parents, whereas girls and boys are equally likely to attend and complete school in better-endowed households.