Despite free education, the enrolment of girls and their participation is still low in schools and continues decreasing.  This is due to the duties and responsibilities imposed on them at an early age making them less productive in the education arena.

The onset of free primary education in Malawi saw the escalating of numbers of pupils enrolling for primary education in this Southern African state where pupil participation of school was low due to high levels of poverty.  In 1994, the ruling United Democratic Front introduced the free primary education and 1.3 million pupils registered for standard one.

However nine years down the line, statistics indicate that 300,000 pupils have since dropped out of school and only ten percent of children between the ages of 14 and 18 manage to go to secondary education.  This is    compounded    by    cases of school dropout as well as repetition.  Taking the bigger percent of all this is the Malawian girl child.

A press release issued by the Ministry of Education said girls in Malawi have higher repetition and dropout rates than boys.  The figures indicate that the repetition rate is 15.5 percent for girls while for boys it is 0.2 percent.  On dropout, the rate for girls is pegged at 10.5 percent while that of boys is 6.3 percent.  While gender oriented organisations are geared towards seeing the girl child go to school, the situation on the ground indicates that the progress is on a snail’s pace.

SOCIAL PRESSURE COMPOUNDS SITUATION

Observation from the Malawi Ministry of Education reveals that Malawian girls usually enter school at a late age because of the demand for their labour in their homes such as assisting in looking after young siblings.  The Ministry observes that by the time they reach adolescence -- when social pressure to leave school is great due to initiation ceremonies, teenage pregnancies and early marriages -- they are still in lower primary schools.

In addition, it is girls who spend more time on household chores than boys.  This means that girls have little time studying at home.  If there is a sick relative in the home, it is girls who are supposed to assist in looking after the sick relative.

In other cases, the Education Ministry observes, when a parent dies, especially a mother in the home, the girl child is made to substitute for the mother in looking after young siblings and carrying other domestic chores.  “Most parents in Malawi value girls’ education less than that of boys,” reads a press release from the Education Ministry released prior to the Global Education for All (EFA) that falls in the first week of every April.  The theme this year (2003) was “Let us Join Hands in Accelerating Girls’ Education”.  It was meant to recognize and appreciate the girls’ and women’s rights to education.

POVERTY RETARDS GIRLS’ DEVELOPMENT

The Ministry further observes that girls coming from poor families are the most affected.  It says poor condition of girls’ clothes often subjects them to teasing and harassment from boys, which in effect reduce their participation in class.

“Girls who do not have adequate clothing particularly undergarments are reluctant to stand up in class to answer teachers questions, especially with boys sitting on the floor.  This also reduces their participation,” says the report from Education Ministry.  The report adds that some parents withdraw or marry their daughters at an early age because of their security perception of their daughters in school.  They fear excessive drinking by teachers during school time, teachers proposing, impregnating and marrying school girls, flirtation between girls and boys.

The Ministry says pregnancy accounts for 70 percent of girls’ dropout rate while long distances from home to school affect girls’ attendance due to competing demands for girls labour at home.

NEGATIVE STEREOTYPE

Negative thinking also contributes to the disadvantage of the Malawi girl child.  The Ministry observes that some parents think that girls are less intelligent than boys.  In addition most teachers tend to support boys more than girls.  By assisting boys more, these teachers also portray an image that boys are more intelligent than girls.  Worse still, the girl child lacks role models, people they would look-up to, to encourage them to be like them.  Figures from the ministry of education show that female teachers are on an average of about 30 percent of the teaching staff.  Most of these are in the urban areas.  The report says rural areas, therefore, lack female role models.

In April 2000, governments, civil society organizations and donors meeting in Dakar Senegal during the World Education Forum discussed ways of achieving Education For All (EFA) by 2015.  Among  the  goals  discussed was to ensure the elimination of gender disparities in primary and secondary education by 2005 and achieving gender equality in education by 2015, with a focus on ensuring girls full access, to and achievement in basic quality education.

However, there is more that the policy makers need to do if they are to achieve their goal.  Otherwise this will just be another white paper that is bound to develop dust while the plight of the girl child continue to plague societies, especially in Africa.

Frank Jomo
Correspondent
Nairobi