The compounding effects of gender inequality: Challenges and new solutions from four low- and middle-income countries

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

An estimated 130 million girls were already out of school worldwide before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and an additional 11-20 million girls – primarily from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) – are now at risk of dropping out of school. Among 10-19 year old adolescent girls from the poorest wealth quintile, an estimated 30% never attended any school and another 14% dropped out of primary school in 2020. Adolescent girls who are in school continue to experience poor learning opportunities. A recent study of 43 LMICs found that only 62% of 15-19 year old adolescent girls with primary education had basic literacy skills, and in nine African countries, less than 50% of girls did so. Although the world has made progress in reducing gender gaps in schooling and learning outcomes over the past few decades, substantial gaps remain in many low-income countries. The ongoing pandemic has further widened gender gaps in schooling and learning across LMICs.

The challenges of enrolling and keeping adolescent girls in school and improving their learning outcomes are multi-faceted. A recent systematic review identified 18 different gender-related barriers to girls’ education in LMICs which can be broadly categorized into barriers that overwhelming affect girls (e.g., child marriage, regressive gender norms, and gender-based violence), barriers which are experienced by both boys and girls but affect girls more due to prevailing gender norms (e.g., preference given to boys in settings with low income and lack of schooling access), and barriers that are shared by both genders but differ in terms of pathways of impact on educational outcomes (e.g., pedagogy and lack of teaching materials). The barriers are present at the household, school, and community levels and are often intertwined with each other. Another review similarly identified a set of nine barriers to adolescent girls’ health, education, and economic empowerment.

There is a large body of research on the effectiveness and implementation of programs and policies that could improve adolescent girl’s education in LMICs. However, not all gender-related barriers receive equal attention. Interventions have focused heavily on tuition and fees (e.g., cash transfer of free schooling), nutrition (e.g., school meal programs), and academic support. Many major challenges such as child marriage, adolescent pregnancy, menstrual hygiene management, lack of safe spaces, and school-related gender-based violence remain inadequately addressed. Because many of the challenges are systemic and cross-cutting, investments or policies which take into account individual health and well-being, access to- and quality of educational service delivery, and societal gender norms are necessary.

In this panel, we present four new studies from Bangladesh, Ethiopia, India, and Kenya, providing new insights into the barriers and challenges to education experienced by adolescent girls in low resource settings and what interventions can do to address them. The “Keeping Girls in Schools” study in Bangladesh, conducted during 2018-2020, evaluates whether interventions which offered tutoring support and life-skills education to girls aged 12-14 years protected against COVID-related declines in schooling and learning. In Ethiopia, the Biruh Tesfa (Bright Future in Amharic) study evaluates an education and wellbeing program for marginalized out-of-school girls aged 10 to 19 in low-income urban areas. In India, the Magicbus study is a randomized control trial of a physical activity-based life skills program for girls’ education. It is the largest study of its kind in world, covering 20,000 children of age 8-14 years. Finally, the Kenya study examines changes in literacy and numeracy outcomes of adolescent girls from pre-pandemic to 1.5-2 years into the pandemic.

Sub Unit

• Gender Justice SIG

Chair

• Nicole Haberland, Population Council

Individual Presentations

• Impact of Physical Activity based Life Skills Education on Learning Outcomes: Evidence from Magicbus Foundation’s Sports for Girls Program India - Arindam Nandi, Population Council

• The Impact of an After-school Program for Girls on Learning Loss During the COVID-19 Pandemic - Md Irfan Hossain, Population Council

• The Impact of a Safe Spaces Education Initiative on Domestic Workers and Other Marginalized Girls in Ethiopia - Annabel Erulkar, Population Council

• Learning Loss Among Adolescent Girls in Kenya - Ruth Nanjekho Wafubwa, Population Council - Kenya