1.2.2 Household Socio-Economic Background

Qualitative evidence supports these arguments while providing findings with further depth and comparative scope. A qualitative study conducted in Ghana, Kenya and Mozambique (Parkes and Heslop, 2013) revealed that girls face a wide range of barriers to their schooling in all three countries. Some of the main barriers are directly linked to established household gender roles (e.g. household chores, caring for siblings), poverty (parents’ inability to pay for school fees, need to work on the farm) and issues related to sexuality and gender violence (early pregnancy and marriage). Based on qualitative findings of a research study carried out in Sofala Province, Roby, Lambert and Lambert (2009) also highlight that, while various factors can impact all children’s education, each of these factors may have a more negative impact on girls. Their research clearly shows how some “caregivers did not believe that education would make a difference for the future of the children, especially the girls’ caregivers” because girls have more household and caring responsibilities. Furthermore, parents and caregivers also tend to keep girls more at home, “fearing the dangers involved in the distance to school or the bad influences of school” (ibid.: 350). In addition, results of a mix-method baseline research in Mozambique also record accounts of how girls are greatly affected by instances of sexual harassment, abuse and punishment at school, which affects their attendance and dropout rates (Parkes and Heslop, 2011).

These vulnerabilities highlight the role played by specific points of transition in a child’s life. Studies have indeed highlighted a number of connections between girls’ education and rites of passage or ceremonies that mark a transition from one stage of her life to another. These ceremonies and their often-lengthy preparation may overlap with the school calendar and can increase absenteeism and the possibility of dropout. In parts of Guinea, for example, these ceremonies were sometimes performed during the school term and could cause absenteeism from school for periods ranging from one week to one month, sometimes resulting in school withdrawal. An intensive school-based survey undertaken at the school and community levels, using a combination of both quantitative and qualitative research tools, has shown “how the impact was perceived to be greater for girls’ schooling because it is often considered shameful for them to return to school after initiation, unlike the case of boys” (Colclough, Rose and Tembon, 2000: 22). This can be explained, as discussed by Nekatibeb (2002) in the case of Ethiopia, by the discrepancy between the schools’ and the families’ perceptions of girls who undergo initiation ceremonies. Following these ceremonies, while teachers in particular and school communities in general still perceive pupils as children, their families perceive them as having become adults.

AGE AND GRADE RETENTION

High grade retention and high repetition rates can also be significant factors discouraging the continuation of education. In ESAR countries, retention during primary school years is a persistent problem (UNESCO and UNICEF, 2015; Momo et al., 2018).

Using event history analysis in a study of urban schooling, Roderick (1994) found that repeating a grade from kindergarten to Grade 6 is associated with a substantial increase in the likelihood of dropping out, even after controlling for differences in background and post-retention grades and attendance. Mixed-method research in ... parents and caregivers

tend to keep girls more at home,

“fearing the dangers involved in the distance to school or the bad influences of school”.

retention during primary school years is a persistent problem