First Africa Teachers Report - Educating Girls and Ending Child Marriage: The Crucial Role of Teachers

Group Submission Type: Book Launch

Description of Session

Low educational attainment for girls and child marriage remain major issues in Africa. Much of the literature and policy advice on those issues focuses on interventions that may keep girls in school at the upper secondary level. Interventions that work at that level include economic incentives for girls to remain in school. But this reaches in many countries only a small minority of girls (most have already dropped out by then). What is also needed – and could have a larger impact at a lower cost, is improving learning in primary schools, which would lead a larger share of girls to continue their education beyond the primary level. To improve learning, better teaching – and more female teachers and heads of schools are needed.
UNESCO’s International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa is publishing its first Africa Teachers Report on the role of teachers in improving educational opportunities for girls and ending child marriage. The report consists of two parts. The first demonstrates how improving education for girls and ending child marriage could have large benefits for girls, their children, and society at large. Expanding on work done at the World Bank, the positive effects of girls’ education and the elimination of child marriage are estimated in multiple domains, including labor earnings, the demographic transition, children’s and women’s health, women’s agency, intimate partner violence, etc. The analysis is based on data for two dozen African countries covering more than three fourth of the region’s population
The second part of the report considers programs and policies that could help improve education for girls and reduce child marriage. For example: (1) Parental perceptions of the reasons leading girls to drop out of school available suggest that improving learning is essential to reduce drop-out, especially at the primary level even if other factors such as social norms and the cost of schooling matter too; (2) Student assessment data suggest that more women teachers and heads of schools could lead to gains in learning for girls (and boys), while also serving as role models for girls; (3) Patterns of violence in schools – whether physical, emotional, or sexual, contribute to girls dropping out of school; (4) Other factors leading to poor educational performance for girls include petty corruption in schools, while by contrast gender-responsive pedagogy and other interventions can make a positive difference. These and other obstacles faced by girls for schooling and learning are discussed, together with a literature review on interventions reducing high levels of learning poverty.
The overall argument of the report is that educating girls and ending child marriage is essential for the girls themselves and for societies’ sustainable development, but beyond the emphasis in the literature on interventions to keep girls in school at the upper secondary level, we need to also invest much earlier to improve learning, so that girls (and boys) have a better chance of avoiding dropping out. For this to be the case, the role of teachers and principals, especially female teachers and principals, is essential.

Sub Unit

• Pre-Conference Workshops, Book launches, and Visual Art Exhibits / Book Launch

Chair

• Victoria Kanobe Kisaakye, UNESCO

Book Launch Presenter

• Quentin Wodon, UNESCO IICBA