EDUCATION IN AFRICA STATISTICS

      EDUCATION IN AFRICA STATISTICS      

Facts on Education in Africa
In research for AIA, I’ve been finding some really powerful statistics about Africa, and it seems to mean that it all leads back to primary education. That’s why I believe in our cause so much- because I think education is the key to helping poverty and the AIDS epidemic in Africa. Read on…

• Sub-Saharan Africa is the only region in the world where poverty has increased in the past 25 years.
• 32 of the world’s 38 heavily indebted poor countries are in Africa.
• Half the population of Africa lives on less than US $1 a day.
• Slums are home to 72% of urban Africa’s citizens.
• Primary school enrollment in African countries is among the lowest in the world.
• 33 million primary school-aged children in Sub-Saharan Africa do not go to school. 18 million of these children are girls.
• In Sub-Saharan Africa, only two-thirds of children who start primary school reach the final grade.
• Although literacy rates have greatly improved in Africa over the last few decades, approximately 40% of Africans over the age of 15, and 50% of women above the age of 25 are illiterate.
• There is an average of 40 pupils per teacher in sub-Saharan Africa, but the situation varies considerably from country to country. In many countries, it is more than 60 to one.
• Africa loses an estimated 20,000 skilled personnel a year to developed countries.
• Average life expectancy in Africa is only 46 years.
• There are an estimated 5,500 AIDS deaths a day in Africa.
• AIDS decreases in villages where there are primary schools.
• In Uganda, a child who quits attending school is three times more likely to be HIV positive later on in life than a child who completes basic education.
• HIV/AIDS is likely to claim the lives of 10% of teachers within the coming five years, and 20% of school-age children will be AIDS orphans.
Africa Literacy Facts from UNESCO

For everyone everywhere, literacy is...a basic human right.
- Kofi Annan, Former UN Secretary-General

In Sub-Saharan Africa

More than 1 in 3 adults cannot read. [1]
176 million adults are unable to read and write.[1]
47 million youths (ages 15-24) are illiterate.[1]
21 million adolescents are not in school. [2]
32 million primary aged children are not in school either. [2]
What is Literacy?

LLBirdseyeBoyReading23This is a simple question with a number of answers.  For statistical purposes, UNESCO defines a literate person as someone who can read and write a short simple statement about their life.  In recognizing its impact on poverty, health, active citizenship and empowerment, the development community recognizes that "Illiteracy is a condition that denies people opportunity." [3]

Getting Better, but Not There Yet

In 1990 the adult literacy rate in all of Africa was 52%. In 2008 it was 63%. [4]
In 1990 there were over 177 million illiterates in all of Africa, but by 2008 there were over 200 million. [4]
Literacy rates are improving globally, but in terms of raw numbers there are more illiterates than 20 years ago.  In sub-Saharan Africa  youth literacy rates (ages 15-24) have increased by 6% over the past 20 years, casting light on adult literacy projections.  However, youth literacy rates in Sub-Saharan Africa (72%) are the lowest of any region, as is enrollment in secondary school (34%).  For adults in sub-Saharan Africa the rates have improved by 9%, but there is a disparity between literacy for women and men.  While 7 in 10 men can read, only half of women can do so. [1]  The biggest barrier to increasing literacy is the lack of books, especially in rural areas.

Comparing the U.S. to Africa

The U.S. literacy rate is 99% [5], while it is 63% in sub-Saharan Africa. [1]    Of the ten countries with the lowest recorded adult literacy rates, 9 are in Africa. [3]

Literacy in our Partner Countries

LLMeTheresaStudent-22Building on rich oral traditions of storytelling, many of ALP's partner countries have shown improved literacy rates over time and with strong government investment in education.  Botswana, for example, increased its adult literacy rate from 69% in 1991 to 83% in 2008, and invests 21% of its government spending in education (compared to 14% for the US) [4].   Lesotho invests over 12% of its GDP in education (compared to 5.5% in the US) [4]; and while this is the highest in Africa, public and school libraries are rare.  The hunger to read for pleasure, for information, and to supplement textbooks (when available) exists in the countries we serve because of the improving literacy rates and investments in education made over the years.

General Facts about Sub-Saharan Africa

Population in 2010 - 863 million [6]
Life expectancy - 54 years [6]
4 in 100 people use the Internet [7]
23 telephone lines per 100 people [7]
24 million people living with HIV/AIDS [7]
Why Literacy?

Literacy is very important - many would say a human right.  A good quality basic education equips pupils with literacy skills for life and further learning; literate parents are more likely to keep their children healthy and send their children to school; literate people are better able to access other education and employment opportunities; and, collectively, literate societies are better geared to meet development challenges. [8]

References

[1] UNESCO Institute for Statistics. “Adult and Youth Literacy: Global Trends in Gender Parity.” UIS Fact Sheet, September 2010, No. 2. http://www.uis.unesco.org/template/pdf/Literacy/Fact_Sheet_2010_Lit_EN.pdf

[2] UNESCO. “Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2010: Reaching the marginalized. Regional fact sheet – Sub-Saharan Africa,” 2010. http://www.unesco.org/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/ED/GMR/pdf/gmr2010/gmr2010-fs-ssa.pdf

[3] UNESCO. Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2010: Reaching the marginalized. UNESCO, February 2010. http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0018/001866/186606E.pdf

[4] UNESCO Institute for Statistics Data Centre: http://stats.uis.unesco.org

[5] CIA World Factbook: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/index.html

[6] United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, World Population Prospects: The 2008 Revision, New York, 2009 http://data.un.org

[7] UNICEF, The State of the World's Children, New York, 2009 http://www.unicef.org/sowc/
Association for the Development of Education in Africa (Paris)
In English and French. Based in Paris, France. "focuses on developing partnerships between Ministers of Education and funding agencies in order to promote effective education policies based on African leadership and ownership." Has full text reports (in Adobe PDF format), the PRISME database of education projects, by country, funding agency, etc.

Has Working Groups on: Books and Learning Materials, Distance Education and Open Learning, Early Childhood Development, Education Sector Analysis, Education Statistics, Female Participation in Education, Finance and Education, Higher Education, Nonformal Education, The Teaching Profession. Publishes a Newsletter sponsors an Africa Education Journalism Award. [KF] http://www.adeanet.org/
Association for the Development of Education in Africa. PRISME Database
"The Program and Project Information System on Education (PRISME) is a database of all major externally-funded education projects in Africa. The database was designed to enable Ministers to see what is happening across the continent and development agencies to be better informed of what each one is doing." http://www.adeanet.org/databases/en_databases.html
Association for the Development of Education in Africa. Statistical Profile of Education in Sub-Saharan Africa, SPESSA
"a windows-based program allowing easy access to education data and indicators for sub-Saharan Africa." Has "cross-country and country group comparative data sets. The data sets are updated and published every three years" and are compiled from UNESCO and World Bank sources. Has indicators for Country Information, Education Data, Education Indicators, and Education Finance. ADEA is based in Paris, France. http://www.adeanet.org/spessa99/index.html
DHS EdData
Education Data from the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). Has country education profiles for Benin, Ghana, Guinea, Malawi, Mali, Namibia, Nigeria, Uganda, Zambia. Full text reports such as Schooling in Guinea (111 p.), Household Demand for Schooling in Ghana (83 p.), Support for Education Decentralisation in Ghana (51 p.). Questionnaires. " DHS EdData is an education data collection activity supported by USAID and implemented by ORC Macro in conjunction with the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Program. It is designed to provide accurate and timely data for education policy and program planning,..." [KF] http://www.dhseddata.com/
Education Policy and Data Center
"a global, multi-source database of national and sub-national education and related indicators" Country profiles, graphs, charts, projections. Sponsored by USAID and AED. Based in Washington, D.C. http://epdc.org/
Harvard University. Center for International Development. Research Datasets
"This page is a depository for data developed through research at the Center for International Development at Harvard University (CID). http://www.cid.harvard.edu/ciddata/ciddata.html

Includes - Barro, Robert J. and Jong-Wha Lee, International Data on Educational Attainment: Updates and Implications (CID Working Paper no. 42)
HUMAN CAPITAL UPDATED FILES (April 2000)
The Task Force on Higher Education and Society
Higher Education in Developing Countries: Peril and Promise

Infonation
United Nations site which enables one to compare statistical data among U.N. member states. For example, compare the illiteracy rate, primary and secondary school enrollment, newspaper circulation, and spending on education across countries. The data fields cover the economy, social indicators, geography, and population. http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/infonation/e_infonation.htm
[Kenya] Open Kenya (Transparent Africa)
"public government data .... High quality national census data, government expenditure, parliamentary proceedings and public service locations ...... maps....interactive charts and tables .... raw data for technical users to build their own apps and analyses." Health, poverty rate, education, electricity, development projects, urbanization, employment, land ownership, sanitation, population, age groups, parcels under irrigation, credit borrowing, child nutrition, crop farming, housing, disability, county statistics. Download datasets. Tech tools, apps for your own data. [KF] https://opendata.go.ke/
Literacy Rates
Infonation - from the United Nations. Compare primary and secondary school enrollment and illiteracy rates between several countries -
http://www.un.org/Pubs/CyberSchoolBus/infonation/e_infonation.htm

CIA World Factbook - provides literacy rates, by country, for the total population, for males, and for females.
Mauritius. Ministry of Education and Scientific Research
Has directories of the Ministry and of schools, full text documents, education statistics, press releases, legislation, full text of the White Paper : Pre Primary, Primary & Secondary Education, links to other education sites. http://ncb.intnet.mu/education/
Nationmaster - Education
Compare education statistics across countries. Includes education spending, average schooling years of adults, female literacy rate, school enrollment, etc. Sources are U.N. publications, OECD, etc. http://www.nationmaster.com/cat/education
Tanzania Online
Database of full text reports on Tanzania development issues. Search by author, title, keyword. Topics include Education, Agriculture, Mining, Tourism, Trade, Industries, Health, Poverty reduction, Water Environment, Women development, Private sector development, Science and Technology, Human Rights. Funded by the UNDP, Tanzania govt., etc. Based in Dar-es-Salaam Tanzania. http://www.tzonline.org

Has for example:
Tanzania. Ministry of Education and Culture. Basic Statistic in Education, 1995-1999, National Data. Dar es Salaam, 2000. 58 p. Full text, in Adobe pdf.
Tostan
International NGO based in Senegal. "run by local people and funded primarily by UNICEF." Tostan "developed an innovative basic education program that emphasizes literacy, numeracy, improving life skills and family income, and encourages women to participate in village decision making." The influence of Tostan brought over forty villages to abandon the practice of female genital cutting. Includes a meeting with President and Mrs. Clinton. Based in Thies, Senegal. http://www.tostan.org/

See also: International Literacy Explorer's report on Participatory Nonformal Education, The TOSTAN Basic Education Program, Senegal. This site lets you compare statistics on Senegal and other countries. http://www.literacyonline.org/explorer/index.html
Uganda Bureau of Statistics (Entebbe)
The central statistical office in Uganda. Has multi-year statistics for population, education, health, agriculture, income & expenditures, consumer price index, national accounts, industry, external trade, labor force, etc. Describes current projects, future censuses. See the "What's New" for additional statistics, press releases. Detailed education statistics in Excel format. [KF] http://www.ubos.org
UNESCO. Institute for Statistics
Excellent source for education, literacy statistics. http://unescostat.unesco.org/
UNICEF. State of the World's Children
UNICEF publishes an annual report on children; the 1997 and following reports are on online. http://www.unicef.org/
UNICEF, The State of the World's Children 1999
Includes a Sub-Saharan Africa section. http://www.unicef.org/sowc99/
United Nations Development Programme. Human Development Report
An annual report which ranks countries by level of democratic governance, life expectancy, educational attainment, real income, gender empowerment, etc. http://hdr.undp.org/
United States Agency for International Development - EDDATA
The Documents and Data section has country profiles. Has reports such as the Kenya Education Management Capacity Assessment (KEMACA) survey "to ascertain capacity weaknesses in the Kenyan education system"; the Liberia Teacher Manual (for instructing students in reading English, customized for Liberia). https://www.eddataglobal.org/
United States Agency for International Development. Global Education Database
"The database contains the latest data from UNESCO and DHS surveys. Users can select "GED Online" below to extract data directly from the web-based version." "Select a single indicator for multiple years and multiple countries..." or access multiple indicators for one country. "Education statistics by UNESCO on education and other social indicators for over 200 countries from 1970 to the present." http://ged.eads.usaidallnet.gov/
United States. Central Intelligence Agency. World Factbook
Provides literacy rates, by country, for the total population, for males, and for females.
World Bank Education
Projects, statistics, on all aspects (Girls' Education, Education Technology, Early Child Development, Tertiary Education, Effective School and Teacher Secondary Education, Adult Education, Global Education Reform, School Health, Economics of Education) with many full text reports. http://www1.worldbank.org/education/
World Bank. For Schools
Very useful guide to locating information from the vast World Bank site. Has a page for each country (GNP, population, growth rate, infant mortality, life expectancy, illiteracy rate, safe water, etc.).
Education
Education is one of the most powerful instruments for reducing poverty and inequality and lays a foundation for sustained economic growth. The World Bank compiles data on education inputs, participation, efficiency, and outcomes. Data on education are compiled by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics from official responses to surveys and from reports provided by education authorities in each country.
School enrollment, primary (% gross)
107%2011 SOURCE
School enrollment, secondary (% gross)
71%2011 SOURCE
Primary completion rate, male (% of relevant age group)
91%2011 SOURCE
Primary completion rate, female (% of relevant age group)
90%2011 SOURCE
Featured indicators
Children out of school, primary, female
Children out of school, primary, male
Expenditure per student, primary (% of GDP per capita)
Expenditure per student, secondary (% of GDP per capita)
Expenditure per student, tertiary (% of GDP per capita)
Gross intake ratio in first grade of primary education, female (% of relevant age group)
Gross intake ratio in first grade of primary education, male (% of relevant age group)
Labor force, total
Literacy rate, adult total (% of people ages 15 and above)
Literacy rate, youth female (% of females ages 15-24)
Literacy rate, youth male (% of males ages 15-24)
Literacy rate, youth total (% of people ages 15-24)
Mortality rate, under-5 (per 1,000 live births)
Persistence to last grade of primary, female (% of cohort)
Persistence to last grade of primary, male (% of cohort)
Population ages 0-14 (% of total)
Population ages 15-64 (% of total)
Prevalence of HIV, total (% of population ages 15-49)
Primary completion rate, female (% of relevant age group)
Primary completion rate, male (% of relevant age group)
Primary completion rate, total (% of relevant age group)
Progression to secondary school, female (%)
Progression to secondary school, male (%)
Public spending on education, total (% of GDP)
Public spending on education, total (% of government expenditure)
Pupil-teacher ratio, primary
Ratio of female to male primary enrollment (%)
Ratio of female to male secondary enrollment (%)
Ratio of female to male tertiary enrollment (%)
Ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary education (%)
Repeaters, primary, female (% of female enrollment)
Repeaters, primary, male (% of male enrollment)
School enrollment, preprimary (% gross)
School enrollment, primary (% gross)
School enrollment, primary (% net)
School enrollment, secondary (% gross)
School enrollment, secondary (% net)
School enrollment, tertiary (% gross)
Trained teachers in primary education (% of total teachers)
Unemployment, female (% of female labor force)
Unemployment, male (% of male labor force)
Unemployment, total (% of total labor force)

School enrollment, primary (% gross)
School enrollment, primary (% gross)
Arab World 97% 2011
Caribbean small states 98% 2011
East Asia & Pacific 112% 2011
Euro area 105% 2011
European Union 104% 2011
Europe & Central Asia 100% 2011
Latin America & Caribbean 113% 2011
Least developed countries: UN classification 106% 2011
Middle East & North Africa 105% 2011
OECD members 105% 2011
Other small states 109% 2011
Pacific island small states 118% 2011
Small states 107% 2011
South Asia 110% 2011
Sub-Saharan Africa 100% 2011
World 107% 2011
SOURCE
Literacy rate, youth total (% of people ages 15-24)
Arab World 87% 2010
East Asia & Pacific 99% 2010
Euro area 100% 2010
European Union 100% 2010
Europe & Central Asia 99% 2010
Latin America & Caribbean 97% 2010
Least developed countries: UN classification 72% 2010
Middle East & North Africa 91% 2010
OECD members 99% 2010
South Asia 79% 2010
Sub-Saharan Africa 72% 2010
World 90% 2010
SOURCE
Related data sets
Arab World Education Performance Indicators
Socio-Economic Database for Latin America and the Caribbean
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Education in Africa
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article possibly contains original research. Please improve it by verifying the claims made and adding inline citations. Statements consisting only of original research may be removed. (February 2013)
Education in Africa began as a tool to prepare the local youth to take their place in their respective societies and not necessarily for life outside of Africa. In some areas, the pre-European colonialism schooling system consisted of groups of older people teaching aspects and rituals that would help them in adulthood. In other areas, education in early African societies included such things as artistic performances, ceremonies, games, festivals, dancing, singing and drawing. Boys and girls were taught separately to help prepare each sex for their adult roles. Every member of the community had a hand in contributing to the educational upbringing of the child. The high point of the education experience in certain societies in Africa was the ritual passage ceremony from childhood to adulthood.
When European colonialism and imperialism took place it began to change many indigenous education systems. Schooling was no longer just about rituals and rites of passage, school would now mean earning an education that would allow Africans to compete with countries such as the United States and those in Europe. Africa would begin to try producing their own educated students as other countries had.
Education participation rates in many African countries are low. Schools often lack many basic facilities, and African universities suffer from overcrowding and staff being lured away to Western countries by higher pay and better conditions.
Contents  [hide]
1 Participation
2 Reasons
2.1 Lack of proper schooling facilities and educators
2.2 Emigration
2.3 Military and conflict
3 Influential initiatives
3.1 Non-profit sponsored
3.1.1 African
3.1.2 International
4 Corruption in education
5 NGO involvement
6 Women's education
6.1 Disparity in Education
6.2 Significance
6.3 Current policies of Progression
7 Recommendations for reform
8 See also
9 References
10 External links
Participation[edit]

According to UNESCO's Regional overview on sub-Saharan Africa,[1] in 2000 52% of children were enrolled in primary schools, the lowest enrollment rate of any region. UNESCO also reported marked gender inequalities: In most parts of Africa there is much higher enrollment by boys; in some there are more girls, due to sons having to stay home and tend to the family farm. Africa has more than 40 million children, almost half the school-age child population, receiving no schooling. Two-thirds of these are girls. The USAID Center reports that as of 2005, 40% of school-age children in Africa do not attend primary school and there are still 46 million school-age African children who have never stepped into a classroom.
The regional report produced by the UNESCO-BREDA education sector analyst team in 2005 indicates that less than 10% of African children are now allowed in the system. Four out of 10 children did not complete primary school in 2002/2003. So, five years after the World Education Forum and the adoption of the Millennium Goals, progress at primary level is far from decisive. The analysis highlights that principal efforts should be directed to reducing the number of dropouts per level. It appears also that geographical disparities (rural areas/urban areas) or economic disparities (low income households/wealthy households) are more significant and take longer to even out than gender disparities. From the quality point of view, studies such as SACMEQ (Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality) and household surveys indicate very significant disparities in performance between and within countries.[2]
This report also shows that secondary (lower and higher levels) and higher education enrollments have progressed proportionally more than primary enrollment over the period 1990–2002/2003 which questions the reality of policy priority given to primary education. The strong pressure for education continuity from the majority already benefiting from schooling explains this trend. To this must be added the weakness of mechanisms regulating pupil flow between the different levels of the education system.
In 2005, the inventory and trends show a definitive risk of not reaching universal primary enrollment by 2015. 14.7% of the world's population is in Africa.
The education systems inherited from the colonial powers were designed for the formal sector and public administration. However, ADEA (Association for the Development of Education in Africa) has become aware of the informal sector's relevance in developing countries, and thus recognized the need for increased vocational school training as a way to help the informal sector.[3]
Reasons[edit]

Lack of proper schooling facilities and educators[edit]
The main reason for the low education rates in Africa is the lack of proper schooling facilities and unequal opportunity for education across countries.[4] Many schools across Africa find it hard to employ teachers due to the low pay and lack of suitable people. This is particularly true for schools in remote areas. Most people who manage to receive education would prefer to move to big cities or even overseas where more opportunities and higher pay await. Thus, there will be an overly large class sizes and high average number of students per teacher in a school. Moreover, the teachers are usually those unqualified with few teaching aids and poor textbook provision. Due to this, children attending schools in rural areas usually attain poorer results in standardised tests compared to their urban counterparts. This can be seen in the reports given by the Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ).[5] Those taking the tests in rural areas score much lower than those in small towns and big cities. This shows a lack of equal education opportunity given to children from different parts of the same country.
Emigration[edit]
Next, emigration leads to a loss of highly educated people and financial loss. The loss of skilled people can only be replaced with another huge cost which imply the loss of money spent educating people who leave and new people to replace them. Even though an almost 5.5% of GDP investment in education,[6] the loss makes it difficult for the government to budget another amount in education as they will need to prioritize other needs such as military budget and debt servicing.[7]
Military and conflict[edit]
Military spending is causing education spending to decrease immensely. According to a March 2011 report by UNESCO, armed conflict is the biggest threat to education in Africa. While the number of dropouts across the continent has been increasing dramatically, one of the influences of war and conflict on education is the diversion of public funds from education to military spending. An already underfunded system is losing more money. Twenty-one African countries have been identified as the highest spenders of gross domestic product on military globally compared with the amount directed toward education. Military and conflict also leads to the displacement of children. It often forces them to remain in camps or flee to their neighboring countries where education is not available to them.[8]
In Kenya, after disputed national elections in December 2007, civil unrest displaced over 250,000 people and affected a total of 500,000 persons. The Ministry of Education statistics indicate 62,848 of primary school going children were affected by the ensuing violence.[8]
Influential initiatives[edit]

Initiatives to improve education in Africa include:
Non-profit sponsored[edit]
African[edit]
NEPAD's E-school programme is an ambitious plan to provide internet and computer facilities to all schools on the continent.
SACMEQ is a consortium of 15 Ministries of Education in Southern and Eastern Africa which undertakes integrated research and training activities to monitor and evaluate the quality of basic education, and generates information that can be used by decision-makers to plan and improve the quality of education.
For 10 years, the Benin Education Fund (BEF) has provided scholarships and education support to students from the Atakora province in northeastern Benin. Over 450 students have been able to stay in school because of their programmes.
International[edit]
She's the First is a non-profit organization based in New York. The organization seeks to empower girls in Asia, Africa, and Latin America by facilitating the sponsorship of their education through creative and innovative means.[9]
Working through local organizations, The African Children's Educational Trust is supporting thousands of youngsters with long-term scholarships and a community rural elementary schools building programme. It has built seven schools to date and is raising funds for more.
British Airways' "" project which, in collaboration with UNICEF, opened the model school Kuje Science Primary School in Nigeria in 2002.
The Elias Fund provides scholarships to children in Zimbabwe to get a better education.
The Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in association with Humanity First, an international charity organisation, has built over 500 schools in the African continent and is running a 'learn a skill' initiative for young men and women.
Fast Track Initiative
Corruption in education[edit]

A 2010 Transparency International report, with research gathered from 8,500 educators and parents in Ghana, Madagascar, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Uganda, found that education is being denied to African children in incredibly large numbers.[10]
A lack of parent involvement, especially as an overseer of government activities also leads to enormous corruption. This was most often found to be because parents and communities feel as though they lack any kind of power in regard to their child's education. In Uganda only 50% of parents believe that they have the power to influence decisions regarding the education of their child. In Morocco, just 20% of parents believed they held any sort of power.[10]
The unavailability and incompleteness of records in schools and districts prevents the documentation and prevention of corrupt practices. The African Education Watch conducted surveys all over the continent and identified the three most common practices of corruption:
Illegal collection of fees: One part of their research focused on of so-called registration fees. Parents from every country surveyed reported paying even though, by law, primary schooling is free. The report found that the number of parents forced to pay these illegal accounting fees ranged from 9% in Ghana, to 90% in Morocco. An average of 44% of parents still report paying skill fees in the study. The average fee cost $4.16, a major expense for families in countries like Madagascar, Niger and Sierra Leone.[10]
Embezzlement of school funds: In the study, Transparency International found that 64% of the schools surveyed on the continent published no financial information at all.[10]
Power abuse: Another major problem is incompetent management. The report found that in many schools the little resources they did have were being wasted or lost. Overall, 85% of schools across all countries had either deficient accounting systems or none at all. In Morocco, just 23% of head teachers received training in financial management, despite being responsible for budgets. The TI report found that there was sexual abuse in schools from teachers. The TI report also found that many schools were plagued by teacher absenteeism and alcoholism.[10]
Without this basic education, the report found it was nearly impossible to go on to high school or college. African children are missing this link that allows them to have a chance in trade or to go beyond their villages. [11]
NGO involvement[edit]

A report by USAID and the Bureau for Africa, Office of Sustainable Development, found that NGOs are increasingly participating in contribute to the delivery of education services, education policy decisions and are included by donors and government officials in many parts of the education system. Of course, this varies country to country and region to region.
NGOs working in education in Africa often encountered tension and competition when working. Schools, parents and, most often government officials, feel threatened by third-party involvement and feel that they are "crashing the party." The report continues that for NGOs to be effective, they must understand that they do not have the same perspective as government officials as to who is in control. If they do not recognize the government of the country they are working in, they will compromise their objectives.[12]
The report goes into more detail about NGO relations with governments in education. The relationship is viewed from completely separate points. African governments see NGOs and their work as "an affair of government" or, in other words, working as a part and in collaboration with the country's government. NGOs on the other hand view themselves as very separate entities in African education. They see themselves fulfilling moral responsibility. They believe that they are identifying needs or areas of development in situations under which the government has ultimately been unaccountable and separately mobilizing resources toward those needs or development areas. Government and NGOs are hold contrasting beliefs about each other's abilities. Governments often think NGOs are unqualified to make important policy decision and that they could undermine their legitimacy if seen as superior. In some cases, NGOs have found government incompetent themselves, if not their own fault, as the fault of a lack of resources. In the best cases, NGOs and government officials find each other's mutual strengths in education policy and find ways to practically collaborate and reach both of their objectives.[12]
To be effective in education in Africa NGOs must effect policy and create policy changes that support their projects. NGOs also found that, to see this policy change that they are striving for, they must create and foster relationships with many different stakeholders. The most important stakeholders are usually donors and government officials. The biggest challenge for NGOs has been linking these networks together. NGO interventions to change policy have revealed that NGO programmes have failed to create a successful way to change the policy process while making sure that the public understands and is a part of education policy. This problem will prove more influential in the future if it is not solved.[12]
Women's education[edit]

A positive correlation exists between the enrollment of girls in primary school and the gross national product and increase of life expectancy.
In 2000, 93.4 million women in Sub-Saharan Africa were illiterate. Many reasons exist for why formal education for females is unavailable to so many, including cultural reasons. For example, some believe that a women's education will get in the way of her duties as a wife and a mother. In some places in Africa where women marry at age 12 or 13, education is considered a hindrance to a young woman's development.[13]
Women's education is sometimes corrupted by sexual violence. Sexual violence against girls and female students affects many African education systems. In Sub-Saharan Africa, sexual violence is one of the most common and least known forms of corruption.[14]
Disparity in Education[edit]
While most of the Millennium Development Goals face a deadline of 2015, the gender parity target was set to be achieved a full ten years earlier - an acknowledgement that equal access to education is the foundation for all other development goals.[15] Gender disparity is defined as inequalities of some quantity attributed to the reason of gender type.[16] In countries where resources and school facilities are lacking, and total enrollments are low, a choice must often be made in families between sending a girl or a boy to school.[17] Of an estimated 101 million children not in school, more than half are girls.[18] However, this statistic increased when examining secondary school education.[17] In high-income countries, 95% as many girls as boys attend primary and secondary schools. However, in sub-Saharan Africa the figure is just 60%.[19]
The foremost factor limiting female education is poverty.[20] Economic poverty plays a key role when it comes to coping with direct costs such as tuition fees, cost of textbooks, uniforms, transportation and other expenses.[20] Wherever, especially in families with many children, these costs exceed the income of the family, girls are the first to be denied schooling. This gender bias decision in sending females to school is also based on gender roles dictated by culture. Girls usually are required to complete household chores or take care of their younger siblings when they reach home. This limits there time to study and in many cases, may even have to miss school to complete their duties.[21] It is common for girls to be taken out of school at this point. Boys however, may be given more time to study if their parents believe that the education will allow them to earn more in the future. Expectations, attitudes and biases in communities and families, economic costs, social traditions, and religious and cultural beliefs limit girls’ educational opportunities.[20]
Additionally, in most African societies, women are seen as the collectors, managers, and guardians of water, especially within the domestic sphere that includes household chores, cooking, washing, and child rearing.[22] Because of these traditional gender labor roles, women are forced to spend around sixty percent of each day collecting water, which translates to approximately 200 million collective work hours by women globally per day [23] and a decrease in the amount of time available for education, shown by the correlation of decrease in access to water with a decrease in combined primary, secondary, and tertiary enrollment of women.[24]
Whatever the underlying reason(s) are,about having large numbers of girls outside the formal schooling system brings developmental challenges to both current and future generations . According to the UNESCO, the rates of female children out of primary school is higher than that of male children in all the African countries where data is available.[25] Until equal numbers of girls and boys are in school, it will be impossible to build the knowledge necessary to eradicate poverty and hunger, combat disease and ensure environmental sustainability.[15] Millions of children and women will continue to die needlessly, placing the rest of the development agenda at risk.
Significance[edit]
In Africa and the Arab world, promoting gender equality and empowering women is perhaps the most important of the eight Millennium Development Goals.[26] The target associated with achieving this goal is to eliminate gender disparity in primary and secondary enrollment preferably by 2005, and at all levels by 2015.[27] Women deserve the instrumental effects of gender equality in education and the intrinsic dimension of female education; which in essence derives from the role of education in enhancing a woman’s set of capabilities.[28] Thus, in theory, there is a direct effect from female education to income (or growth).[28] Education, especially for girls, has social and economic benefits for society as a whole.[29] Women earn only one tenth of the world’s income and own less than one per cent of property, so households without a male head are at special risk of impoverishment.[30] These women will also be less likely to immunize their children and know how to help them survive.[31] Women who are educated tend to have fewer and healthier children, and they are more likely to attend school.[29] Higher female education makes women better-informed mothers and hence could contribute to lowering child mortality rates and malnutrition.[32] In Africa, limited education and employment opportunities for women reduce annual per capita growth by 0.8%. Had this growth taken place, Africa’s economies would have doubled over the past 30 years.[33] It is estimated that some low-income countries in Africa would need up to $23.8 billion annually to achieve the Millennium Development Goal focused on promoting gender equality and empowering women by 2015. This would translate from $7to $13 per capita per year from 2006 to 2015, according to OECD-DAC. [33] Education is also key to an effective response to HIV/AIDS. Studies show that educated women are more likely to know how to prevent HIV infection, to delay sexual activity and to take measures to protect themselves.[34] New analysis by the Global Campaign for Education suggests that if all children received a complete primary education, the economic impact of HIV/AIDS could be greatly reduced and around 700,000 cases of HIV in young adults could be prevented each year—seven million in a decade.[34] According to the Global Campaign for Education, “research shows that a primary education is the minimum threshold needed to benefit from health information programmes. Not only is a basic education essential to be able to process and evaluate information, it also gives the most marginalized groups in society—notably young women—the status and confidence needed to act on information and refuse unsafe sex.”[35]
Current policies of Progression[edit]
The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), adopted in 1979 by the UN General Assembly and acceded to by 180 States, sets down rights for women, of freedom from discrimination and equality under the law.[36] CEDAW has realized the rights and equality of woman is also the key to the survival and development of children and to building healthy families, communities and nations. Article 10 pinpoints nine changes that must be changed in order to help African women and other women suffering from gender disparity. It first states, their must be the same conditions for careers, vocational guidance, and for the achievement of diplomas in educational establishments of all categories in rural as well as in urban areas. This equality shall be ensured in pre-school, general, technical, professional and higher technical education, as well as in all types of vocational training.[37] Second, is access to the same curricula, the same examinations, teaching staff with qualifications of the same standard and school premises and equipment of the same quality.[38] Third, is the elimination of any stereotyped concept of the roles of men and women at all levels and in all forms of education. This is encouraged by coeducation and other types of education which will help to achieve this aim and, in particular, by the revision of textbooks and school programmes and the adaptation of teaching methods.[39] Fourth, the same opportunities to benefit from scholarships and other study grants.[40] Similarly, fifth is the same opportunities of access to programmes of continuing education, including adult and functional literacy programems, particularly those aimed at reducing, at the earliest possible time, any gap in education existing between men and women.[41] Sixth, is the reduction of female student drop-out rates and the organization of programmes for girls and women who have left school prematurely.[42] Seventh concern listed is the same opportunities to participate actively in sports and physical education.[43] Lastly, is access to specific educational information to help to ensure the health and well-being of families, including information and advice on family planning.[44]
Other global goals echoing these commitments include the World Education Forum’s Dakar platform, which stresses the rights of girls, ethnic minorities and children in difficult circumstances; and A World Fit for Children’s emphasis on ensuring girls’ equal access to and achievement in basic education of good quality.[18] In April 2000 more than 1,100 participants from 164 countries gathered in Dakar, Senegal, for the World Education Forum.[45] Ranging from teachers to prime ministers, academics to policymakers, non-governmental bodies to the heads of major international organizations, they adopted the Dakar Framework for Action, Education for All: Meeting Our Collective Commitments. The goal is education for all as laid out by the World Conference on Education for All [46] and other international conferences. Between 1990 and 1998 the net enrollment of boys increased by 9 per cent to 56 per cent, and of girls by 7 per cent to 48 per cent in sub-Saharan Africa.[45] However, these figures mask considerable regional variations. In countries of the Indian Ocean, both girls and boys attained over 70 per cent net enrollment.[45] The most outstanding progress in terms of percentage increase of boys' enrollment was in East Africa, where the net enrollment of boys increased by 27 per cent (to 60 per cent) and of girls by 18 per cent (to 50 per cent).[45] For girls in Southern Africa, the comparable figures for girls were 23 per cent (to 76 per cent) and for boys, 16 per cent (to 58 per cent).[45] This is the resurgence of a vibrant Africa, rich in its cultural diversity, history, languages and arts, standing united to end its marginalization in world progress and development.[45] A prosperous Africa, where the knowledge and the skills of its people are its first and most important resource.
The Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) announces a call for the second round of research proposals from research institutions for its Strengthening Gender Research To Improve Girls’ And Women’s Education In Africa initiative. The initiative, which is supported by the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD), promotes girls and women’s education through the integration of gender into education policy and practice in sub-Saharan Africa.[47] FAWE believes it is vital to invest in research in Africa as way producing current information for advocacy in education policy. This three year research initiative aims to work collaboratively with established research institutions to produce pertinent and robust research.[48] That can be used to constructively engage government, policy makers and other regional bodies on strategies to advance girls’ education in Africa.[49] Findings from the research will be used to inform FAWE’s advocacy work and help redress gender inequities that hinder women’s fulfillment of their right to education and meaningful participation in Africa’s social and economic advancement.
Recommendations for reform[edit]

Government review and regulate school and district financial record-keeping
More comprehensive training of head teachers and administrators in economical administration
Regular government inspection of schools
Encourage parents to complain or fight against schools fees and proactively help parents to know their rights
Empower and mobilize local watchdog organizations such as parent-teacher organizations and school-management committees
Improve teacher compensation[11]