Girls' education in Africa : What do we know about strategies that work?

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to assist countries to develop effective girls' education strategies by providing a comprehensive review of what we know and do not know about successful strategies. One of the study's main conclusions is that getting girls into school and keeping them there, providing them with good learning conditions and relating the school experience to local economic and cultural conditions, requires a two-prong approach that supports both measures targeting girls and system- wide interventions. This does not at all suggest neglecting programs targeted specifically at girls; school access and survival clearly has an important gender dimension. But it does mean recognizing that such programs alone seldom can compensate for factors such as weak political priority for education, overall weaknesses in the education system, and neglect of the many factors outside the education system that impinge on whether or not a child can attend school.