Minding the gaps: with more sub-Saharan African governments introducing free secondary school education, what barriers persist for marginalized girls?

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

Sustainable Development Goal 4.1 calls for the extension of free, and equitable secondary education to all girls and boys. While progressing be being made towards public primary education, according to data compiled by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, out of 39 sub-Saharan Africa countries with data, in 2016 just seven countries (18%) guaranteed 12 or more years of free and compulsory primary and secondary education in legal frameworks. Recently, governments of Tanzania, Ghana and Malawi have begun introducing extended support for secondary education.

For girls, we know that the benefits of education are most substantial when a full secondary education is attained, and that these are associated with diverse potential lifetime effects, extending not only to themselves, but also to their children and households (Wooden et al. 2018, World Bank). What then are the practical implications for students, particularly marginalized girls, as governments introduce free secondary school education? What barriers are overcome and who benefits? On the other hand, which barriers require continued attention and which groups are affected by these barriers? Who can help maintain the focus required to provide a full cycle of quality secondary education to all children, including the most marginalized girls and boys, in order to fully realize the promise of their education?

To address these questions, panelists from academia, a multi-lateral organization and two non-governmental organizations will contribute diverse and complementary perspectives, including a high-level policy perspective and case studies from three sub-Saharan African countries. An historical policy overview examines the progress achieved through the introduction of free secondary education to date across Africa. A study from Tanzania will report on data from a cohort of students surveyed immediately before, and 12 months after the introduction of fee-free basic education starting in 2016, illuminating patterns of enrollment, retention and academic pass rates across gender and economic marginality. Following the announcement of the removal of secondary school fees in Malawi in September 2018, likely ramifications for marginalized girls are explored by researchers looking at which girls can gain access to secondary school education, and how inequity is likely to persist despite the removal of some fees, due to the multi-tiered structure of the government schools in that country. Rounding out those analyses will be an on-the-ground report about what advocacy is required, and among which groups, in order to ensure effective implementation of free secondary education for girls, as it unfolds in the Kaduna State of Nigeria, following its September 2018 introduction.

Sub Unit

• Committee: Gender & Education

Chair

• Sandra Spence, Camfed USA

Individual Presentations

• Mind the gaps… What will it take to get all girls in school and learning? - Nora Fyles, UN Girls' Education Initiative (UNGEI); Sarah Winfield, UNGEI

• Tanzania’s abolition of secondary school fees: who benefited and what remains to deliver quality secondary education for all? - Stuart Johnson, Camfed International; Jose Liht, Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED) International; Sandra Spence, Camfed USA

• Will the poorest girls benefit from abolishing secondary school fees in Malawi? - Asma Zubairi, Research for Equitable Access and Learning (REAL) Centre, University of Cambridge; Pauline Rose, University of Cambridge

• Next steps in advocacy and stakeholder engagement to ensure girls in Kaduna State, Nigeria benefit from free secondary education - Habiba Mohammed, Centre for Girls’ Education

Discussant

• Pauline Rose, University of Cambridge