Guinea - Beyond poverty : how supply factors influence girls' education in Guinea

Report No. 14488-GUI Guinea Beyond Poverty: How Supply Factors Influence Girls' Education in Guinea Issues and Strategies March 29,1996 Westerif Afri( , Delmirlnment AfDi(o n R he WrdO Document of the World Bank  CURRENCY EQUIVALENTS (February 1996) US$1 = GNF998 GNF1 = US$0.001 GNF1000 = US$1.02 MEASURES I m = 1.09 yd I m2 = 10.76 sq. ft 1 km2 = 0.38 sq. mi. ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS APEAE Parents' Association (Association des parents d'eleves et amis de l 'ecole) BEPC End of lower secondary exam (Brevet d 'etudes du premier cycle) CEP End of primary school exam (Certificat d'etudesprimaires e'lementaires) CIDA Canadian International Development Agency DPE Prefectoral Education Office (Direction prefectorale de / 'education) ENI Pre-Service Training Institutes for Primary School Teachers (Ecoles normales d 'instituteurs) ESAF Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility FED European Union Development Fund (Lome IV), (Fonds europeen de developpement) GOG Government of Guinea GDP Gross Domestic Product FAST CIDA's "African women, Sciences and Technologies" Pilot Program IDA International Development Association IMF International Monetary Fund IRE Regional Education Inspectorate (Inspection regionale de l 'e'ducation) MEPUFP Ministry of Pre-University Education and Vocational Training (Ministere de / 'enseignement pre-universitaire et de laformation professionnelle) NGO Non-Governmental Organization PASE Education Sector Adjustment Program (Programme d'ajustement sectoriel de l'e'ducation) SAL Structural Adjustment Loan UNDP United Nations Development Program UNESCO United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization USAID United States Agency for International Development UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund VET Vocational Education and Training Government Fiscal Year January I - December 31 School Year October I - June 30  CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .....................................................; INTRODUCTION .....................................................1 1. EDUCATION IN GUINEA .....................................................3 A. COUNTRY BACKGROUND .....................................................3 B. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS .....................................................3 C. THE SCHOOL SYSTEM IN GUINEA .................................................... .4 1. Structure ...................................................4 2. Administration ...................................................5 D. GIRLS' SCHOOLING ....................................................5 1. Primary School ...................................................6 2. Lower Secondary General (collage) ...................................................8 3. Upper Secondary General (Iycee) ...................................................9 4. Vocational Education and Training (VET) ...................................................9 E. OTHER EDUCATION DEVELOPMENT ISSUES .......................................... 10 1. Access .................................................. 11 2. Rural/Urban Equity. ................................................... 11 3. Quality .................................................. 11 2. SCHOOL FACTORS AFFECTING GIRLS IN GUINEA ...................................... 14 A. SCHOOL SUPPLY .................................................... 14 1. School Structure .................................................. 14 2. Coeducation and Teachers' Gender .................................................. 15 3. Children 's Work for Teachers .................................................. 16 4. Curriculum .................................................. 16 5. School Problems .................................................. 17 B. GIRLS' EXPERIENCE IN THE CLASSROOM AND GENDER STEREOTYPES ............. ............ 1 8 1. Achievement and Persistence .................................................. 18 2. Gender Stereotypes ................................................... l9 3. Classroom Interaction .................................................. 21 C. GIRLS' SOCIAL EXPERIENCE .................................................... 23 1. In and around School: Girls Are Punishedfor their Gender .................................... 23 2. Schooling and Sexuality .................................................. 24 3. DEMAND AND HOUSEHOLD-RELATED FACTORS AFFECTING GIRLS' SCHOOLING .................................................... 27 A. PARENTAL DECISION MAKING REGARDING FEMALE SCHOOLING .................................. 27 1. Parents 'Poverty Versus Direct Costs of Girls' Schooling ........................................ 28 2. High Opportunity Costs Constitute a Considerable Hindrance ................................ 30 B. EARLY MARRIAGE AND BRIDE PRICE IN GUINEA .................................................... 3 1 C. PARENTS EDUCATION .................................................... 32 D. EXPECTATIONS VERSUS REALITY .................................................... 33  4. POLICIES AND STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE GIRLS' EDUCATION ............. 36 I. CURRENT POLICIES AND STRATEGIES IN FAVOR OF GIRLs' EDUCATION .................... 36 A. RECENT ACTIONS TAKEN BY THE GOVERNMENT ........................................................... 36 1. Increasing Awareness .......................................................... 36 2. Pregnancy Policy .......................................................... 37 3. Grade Repetition .......................................................... 37 4. Reducing Direct Costs of Schooling .......................... ................................ 37 5. School Availability ..................................................................................................... 38 B. DONORS' AND NGOs' PROGRAMS ................................................................. 38 II. NEXT RECOMMENDED STEPS ........................................................ 38 A. GIRLS' ACCESS TO GENERAL EDUCATION .................................................................. 39 B. GIRLS' ACCESS TO VET .................................................................. 42 III. IMPROVEMENTS TO BE REACHED IN THE MEDIUM-TERM: CLASSROOM INTERACTION ........................................................ 43 A. SCHOOL FACTORS ................................................................. 43 B. VET AND EMPLOYMENT .................................................................. 44 IV. ADDRESSING SOCIO-CULTURAL BARRIERS IN THE LONG-TERM ............................. 44 A. GENDER STEREOTYPES ................................................................. 44 B. ROLE MODELS AND WOMEN'S LITERACY .................................................................. 45 C. PREGNANCY AND MARRIAGE ................................................................. 45 CONCLUSION ........................................................ 47 ANNEXES Annex 1 Basic Data Annex 2 Education System Flow Chart Annex 3 References Annex 4 Methodology MAP IBRD # 27172 This report draws on the following studies of girls' schooling in Guinea: Girls' Schooling in Rural Areas (World Bank/Government of Guinea (GOG), 1994, Athassane Sow); Inside Classrooms in Guinea: Girls' Experiences (World Bank/GOG, 1994, Kathryn Anderson-Levitt, Marianne Bloch, and Aminata Maiga Soumare); Girls' Participation in Vocational Education (World Bank/GOG, 1994, Yvette Cogne); An Analysis of Barriers and Factors Affecting Girls' School Participation in Rural Areas (USAID, 1992, Karen Tietjen); Socio-Cultural and Socio-Economic Aspects of Girls' Primary Schooling, (GOG, 1991, Passy Kourouma); Study of Girls' Access to Primary Schooling in Guinea (USAID, 1990, Lynellyn D. Long, with Hawah Fofana). This report has been prepared by Aminata Maiga Soumare and the Task Manager, Catherine Laurent. Elizabeth King is the peer reviewer. Ok Pannenborg is the division chief and Jean-Louis Sarbib the department director. Fabrice Bonnaire has edited this report.  EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 1. Background: Girls' Low Enrolment in Guinea is a Human and Economic Waste 1. The gross primary school enrolment rate of girls in Guinea is among the lowest in the world, despite an upward trend from 19% in 1989 to 29% in 1994 (this compares with an increase in overall gross primary enrolment from 28% to 43% over the same period). The Government of Guinea, more than ever before determined to identify the key factors that constitute the root of the problem, has established a Commission on Equity, with USAID support, for the express purpose of developing successful strategies to increase girls' and rural children's school participation. 2. This low enrolment is somewhat paradoxical, given the very high social and private rates of return to education in Guinea, rates which are higher for primary school than for secondary school (45% and 27% respectively as compared to 28% and 19% across Africa). In Conakry, self-employed women with a primary education earn 36% more than their unschooled colleagues; secondary education increases the return to 48%. Civil service earnings increase by 84% and 132% respectively for primary and secondary education.1 2. Research Conducted on Girls' Education in Guinea 3. There are two dimensions to the issue of girls' access: (i) most girls never set foot inside a primary school classroom; and (ii) those who do, experience a qualitatively different kind of schooling than the boys in the classroom. In order to learn about the classroom experiences of students and better understand why girls' participation in the school system is weak, the Commission on Equity designed studies financed by a grant from Japan for the preparation of a school improvement project financed by IDA. Others were financed simultaneously by Guinea and bilateral donors (USAID and CIDA) in 1993-94. For example, an in-depth, five-month study was conducted to learn about the classroom experiences of girls. Each study resulted in a report which was submitted to the Guinean Government. 4. The value of these studies stems from their wide range of participants. The studies were conducted in all five natural regions of Guinea, in urban as well as in rural areas. The study of girls' schooling in rural areas was conducted in 32 villages. Classroom observations took place in 17 schools (11 primary schools and 6 lower secondary schools). The research teams were comprised of Guinean researchers trained in the specific skills required for each study; they were all native speakers of the language(s) of their study region. A variety of methods were used, from focus group discussions and interviews to questionnaires. The classroom observations were the first of their kind in Sub-Saharan Africa to have been conducted on a national sampling basis ' Glick and Sahn (1993).  ii at both the primary and lower secondary levels. The innovative study of girls in vocational education and training was based on interviews not only of school officials but also students, non-schooled teenagers and private sector (formal and informal) employers. 3. Main Findings on Factors Influencing Girls' Participation 5. For purposes of analysis, factors affecting girls' schooling in developing countries have been grouped in two main categories: the family/household demand factors and the policy/supply side factors, which include issues related to school itself. In the Guinean context, school and household factors and their interaction have proven to be relevant to understanding low primary school enrolment and completion rates of girls. In general, the identified factors show what prevents girls from entering school and causes most of them to drop out, in both urban and rural areas in Guinea. 6. Contradicting some assumptions made during the preparation of the studies, no significant difference in factors related to religion or culture affecting girls' schooling has been found among the five natural regions of Guinea, except that the schooling tradition in general is strong in Forest Guinea and weak in Middle and Upper Guinea. This difference is reflected by girls' primary school enrolment rates in these regions. The studies confirmed the critical importance for girls' enrolment, persistence, and success of societal factors such as the local functions of marriage, poverty or household income, household chores and mothers' and daughters' workloads. 7. The main contribution of studies in Guinea, compared to other research conducted in Africa, is that classroom factors have been demonstrated to be of equal importance for girls' education as societal factors. In Guinea, what girls experience in the classroom and within the school, was determined to be a major factor because of the discrimination adversely affecting girls in almost all aspects of their schooling. Other factors such as distance from home to school, existence of latrines, issues related to sexuality, etc. have already been documented in Africa. 4. Main Findings on Policy Measures to Improve Girls' Participation in Guinea 8. The findings relating to school supply factors suggest that certain actions can be taken immediately by the Government of Guinea to alleviate household and school constraints, whereas others require a medium- or long-term framework. A general remark applies to all these measures: they not only have to be approved initially by policy makers or lawmakers, they also have to be publicized widely, enforced rigorously, and evaluated continuously. 9. Influencing Household Factors. To alleviate the direct cost of schooling, three measures can be implemented immediately: the abolition of compulsory uniform requirements, the waiving of birth certificate for registration, and the provision of textbooks (to be procured under the IDA-financed Equity and School Improvement Project). Socio-cultural factors, like parents' attitudes and early marriage, are more  iii within the long-term range, although the new pregnancy policy, which forbids the expulsion of pregnant girls should be enforced more actively now. 10. Changing School. Three main elements directly influencing students' attendance, and specifically girls' participation at the primary level, require immediate attention. First, the school supply issue, in terms of both infrastructure and teachers, is being addressed through a comprehensive program of primary school expansion and rehabilitation, including the creation of latrines, financed by donors during the second phase of the school reform program in Guinea). Second, informal fees and student labour should be banned, whether levied by teachers or by school directors. Third, guidelines outlawing sexual harassment of students by school personnel should be prepared and widely publicized; offenders should be suspended or fired, depending on the severity of the offence. In the medium term, two priorities should be set: first, a VET reform to significantly widen training opportunities for female students; second, pre-service and in- service training should be re-organized to help teachers become advocates of gender sensitive practices.   INTRODUCTION 1. Girls' Enrollment in Guinea is One of the World's Lowest 1. In rural Guinea, only one girl out of nine attends primary school and only one teacher out of 17 is female. Whereas in many countries, the chances that a given school- age girl will be in class and that she will have a female teacher are about nine out of ten, in rural Guinea the odds are one out of 150. The girls' gross primary school enrollment rate in Guinea is among the lowest of the world, although it has increased from 19% in 1989 to 29% in 1994. The increase of overall gross primary enrollment, from 28% in 1989 to 43% in 1994, has not changed the percentage of students who are female (32%). 2. Girls' Education is the Best Investment for a Developing Countryl 2. Educating girls yields a higher rate of return than any other investment in the developing world. The most obvious direct effect of increased female education is the market return, by way of wages. Wages increase by some 10 to 20% for each additional year of primary schooling. In Africa, where literacy and school enrollment rates are low, the returns to education are particularly high. The private and social rates of return are higher for primary school (respectively 45 and 27) than for secondary education (28 and 19). For secondary education, in CMte d'Ivoire, the return to education for females was estimated in 1985 to be 28.7% as compared to 17% for male workers. In Conakry, the return to female primary education for self-employed women is 48%, and increases civil service earnings by 84%2 . Returns of this magnitude are impressive by any standard, but represent only part of the benefits of educating girls. 3. Female education has an enormous impact on health practices, because it increases the willingness to seek medical care and improves sanitation practices, and because women tend to spend more money on their children than men. The best available estimates suggest that each year of schooling reduces under-five mortality by up to 10%. In Guinea, with a fertility rate of 6.5%, providing an additional 1,000 women one extra year of schooling would prevent roughly 60 infant deaths. Educated women desire and have fewer children: they tend to marry and bear children at a later age, and to exercise greater control on the frequency and spacing of births. This significantly increases the probability of women's and children's survival. An extra year of female schooling reduces female fertility by 5 to 10% and prevents three maternal deaths per thousand births. For a sample of 45 countries that include 71% of the world's low income population (excluding China), raising the female secondary enrollment rate to 30% in 1965 would have averted 3.0 million infant deaths and 9.1 million births. The following three paragraphs are summarized excerpts from Summers (1992), and King and Hill, 1993, chapter 2). Glick and Sahn (1993).  2 4. Female education compares favorably with investments outside of the social sectors. For instance, the overall return on power plant physical assets in 57 developing countries has been estimated at less than 4% for the period 1989-1992. Furthermore, estimates of female education returns understate benefits: they do not, for instance, show the return from the fact that healthier, better-educated mothers have healthier, better- educated children and grandchildren. In Guinea, where the average mother will have 42 grandchildren, this is critical. 3. Awareness and Action in Guinea 5. The Government of Guinea, more than ever before determined to identify the key factors that constitute the root of the problem, has established a Commission on Equity, with USAID support, for the express purpose of developing successful strategies to increase girls' and rural children's school participation. 6. There are two dimensions to the issue of girls' access: (i) most girls never set foot inside a primary school classroom; and (ii) those who do experience a qualitatively different kind of schooling than the boys in the classroom. In order to learn about the classroom experiences of students and better understand why girls' participation in the school system is weak, the Commission on Equity designed studies financed by a grant from Japan for the preparation of a school improvement project financed by IDA. Others were financed simultaneously by Guinea and bilateral donors (USAID and CIDA) in 1993-94. 7. The purpose of the current report is to help the Government of Guinea design strategies and policies to address girls' schooling. Its approach is to highlight the findings of studies in villages and classrooms of Guinea, taking into account systemic phenomena in order to outline a tentative map of what has already been accomplished and promising areas yet to be explored. It also provides examples from studies conducted in other countries of Western Africa with low girls' schooling (notably Mali, The Gambia), whenever it seems relevant.  1. EDUCATION IN GUINEA A. COUNTRY BACKGROUND 1.1 Guinea is a West African country sharing borders with C6te d'Ivoire in the East, Guinea Bissau in the West, Senegal and Mali in the North, and North-East, and Liberia and Sierra-Leone in the South and South-West. It covers an area of 245,857 square kilometers comprising four natural regions including that of Conakry, the capital city: Lower Guinea (Guinee Maritime), Middle Guinea (Moyenne Guinee), Upper Guin6e (Haute Guinee), and Forest Guinea (Guinee Forestiere). 1.2 Guinea has 7.1 million inhabitants (1995) and a high population growth of 2.8 percent per year (1993). It has one of the highest concentrations of mineral resources in Africa (bauxite, diamond and gold) and a high agricultural potential. Notwithstanding, Guinea's per capita income is only US$537. It has long been one of Africa's most conspicuous underachievers and its low social indicators have caused it to be ranked last in the UJNDP's Human Development Index from 1992 through 1994. Life expectancy (44 years) is low and infant mortality (133 per 1,000 live births) and illiteracy (76%) are high. Islam is the predominant religion in Guinea (87%). The rest of the population is 4.3 percent Christian and 4.6 percent Animist. Eight languages, of which five major are spoken in Guinea: Soussou, Malinke, Peul, Manon, and Guerze. French is the official language and the only medium of non-Coranic instruction. B. ECONOMIc DEVELOPMENTS 1.3 Since the beginning of 1986, the Government of Guinea has been implementing an ambitious program of economic and financial reform . This program was aimed at improving the incentive framework for private sector development (including the health sector), phasing out state involvement in commercial enterprises, instituting better management of the administration (including a reduction in the size of the civil service) and developing a strong human resource base. The reform program has resulted in a full transition from a command to a market economy, increases in non-mining revenues, the privatization or liquidation of a large number of public enterprises, and a comprehensive reform, and reduction in size of, the public administration from 95,000 to 52,000 individuals. While progress in the first phase of the adjustment program was encouraging, some of the more difficult institution-building and politically sensitive reforms of the second phase2 have not been implemented at the rhythm anticipated. IDA and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) supported the adjustment through a Structural Adjustment Credit, SAL I (1986) and two stand-by arrangements in 1986 and 1987. 2A SAL II was approved by IDA in August 1988. The IMF approved an Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF) arrangement in November 1991, suspended in early 1992; a shadow program was in place from 1992 to June 1994. Guinea is currently implementing the third year of the ESAF.  4 Consequently, the reform process has slowed down, with some key measures remaining to be taken. Overall, however, the Government's program has resulted in real economic growth, averaging 3.8 percent per annum during the period 1987-92-- an increase in real per capita income of about 1 percent per annum. C. THE SCHOOL SYSTEM IN GUINEA 1. Structure 1.4 The general education system consists of six years of primary schooling, a four- year cycle for lower secondary general (college, 7th through 10th grade), a three-year upper secondary cycle (lycee, 11th through 13th grade), and five years of tertiary education. There is no upper secondary vocational training, although there are a number of post-secondary vocational programs of varying length. There are also pre-service training institutes (Ecoles normales d'instituteurs, ENI) for the preparation of primary school teachers, vocational education centers (pre and post-secondary combined), as well as two universities and three other post-secondary institutions. A number of "Franco- Arab" schools offer the national curriculum combined with Coranic training. Private schools make up a small proportion of the total--3.5 percent at the primary level in 1992- 3 93 . Private schooling in Guinea was banned until 1984. There are also private nursery schools (&coles maternelles or jardins d'enfants). The number of private vocational training centers is expanding rapidly. There are currently thirty of them offering mostly secretarial and managerial training. 1.5 During the 1993-94 school year, Guinea's pre-University educational system accommodated 589,000 students, with 471,000 students in primary school, 109,900 students in secondary school, and 8,100 students in technical schools. Gross enrollment rates for primary and secondary schooling were 40% (43.4 in 1994) and 10% respectively. The total number of teaching staff was 14,800 with only 2,800 (19%) female teachers. 1.6 Passage between levels is controlled by examinations. Sixth grade students must pass the certificat d'etudes primaires (CEPE) to move from primary school to college and at the end of 10th grade the brevet d'etudes du premier cycle (BEPC) to move from college to lycee. Graduation from Iycee, at the end of 13th grade, is controlled by the baccalaureat exam. Successful completion of the baccalaureat does not give automatic access to University where access is granted through a competitive exam. 1.7 The school year ordinarily runs from the end of September through the end of June. This academic calendar has not been modified since colonial times, when France's agricultural seasons determined schedules in all colonies, in spite of obviously differing imperatives. The organization of the school week varies depending on the local situation. 3Unless otherwise specified, all statistics regarding education come from the official statistical data publication (Annuaire statistique) by the Ministry of Pre-University Education.  5 In 1994, the primary curriculum required 30 hours per week, generally on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m., and on Saturday morning from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. Thursdays and Sundays are days off in most primary schools. However, some rural schools where children walk long distances from home offer a shorter day, 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday without a day off. Similarly, crowded schools put some or all classes onto double session (double vacation), using the same classroom for one group of students from 8 a.m. to I p.m. and for a second group from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.--again, six days a week. The college program requires 28 hours of instruction per week, but college schedules vary depending on local circumstances. Typically they offer classes six days a week for 4 to 6 hours per day with no mid-day break. 2. Administration 1.8 The administration of Guinea's educational system is divided between two ministries: the Ministry of Pre-University Education (Ministere de 1'enseignement pre- universitaire et de la formation professionnelle, MEPUFP) and the Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research and Culture (Ministere de 1 'enseignement superieur, de la recherche scientifique et de la culture, MESRSC). The MEPUFP directs all pre- university structures through eight regional Academic Inspectorates which in turn administer 38 prefectoral-level Directorates of Education (Direction prefectorale de l'education, DPE) and 210 sub-prefectoral Pedagogic Delegates. The MESRSC is responsible for the two Guinean universities (Nasser University, in Conakry and Nyerere University, in Kankan), three specialized institutes (the Teacher Training Institute in Maneah, the Giscard d'Estaing Agriculture and Veterinary Institute in Faranah, and the Mining and Geology Institute in Boke) and a number of scientific research centers. D. GIRLS' SCHOOLING 1.9 The Government of the First Republic made the emancipation of women one of the "imperatives" of the new regime. Several measures were taken which, at least in theory, should have been supportive of female schooling. For instance, policies and statutes were enacted to protect women's civil rights, including the abolition of slavery. As in many Muslim and developing countries, religious marriage had been the only form that existed. In Guinea, the First Republic made civil marriage mandatory, and forbade marriage before the age of seventeen. Against a tradition of arranged marriages that usually took place without the girl's consent, reciprocal consent was required. There was an apparent commitment to the emancipation of women and several educated Guinean women now observe that the First Republic did more to advance the status of women than has the present one, at least until recently. Yet, these policies were far from perfect although they resulted in modest increases in female enrollment. School enrollment rates in Guinea remained among the lowest in the world, especially for girls. The gross primary enrollment rate for girls in 1992-93 was only 23%, compared with 51% for boys (see Table 1.1- the rates have increased to 29% and 57% respectively in 1994). The total enrollment rates were 37% at the primary level, 10% (5 percent for girls) at the secondary  6 level, and 1 percent at the post-secondary level. Girls make up about 51% of their age cohort but only 32% of the students in primary school and only 25% of the students in college. Table 1.1: Primary school gross enrollment rates for girls and boys in Guinea, by region, 1994-95 Region Total Girls Conakry 68 57 Lower Guinea 42 25.4 Middle Guinea 37.5 19.3 Upper Guinea 33 21.9 Forest Guinea 44 26 TOTAL 43.4 28.6 1. Primary School 1.10 Double Jeopardy: Being a Girl in a Rural Area. The most stubborn statistic in Guinean education is the percentage of primary school students who are girls. This number (32%) has finally increased to 33% in 1994-1995 and has not moved appreciably in twenty years. In six of Guinea's 38 prefectures, gross primary school enrollment rate for girls was 10% or less in 1992-93. The ratio of girls declines from one grade level to the next, particularly during primary school. As demonstrated by Table 1.9, girls are at a clear disadvantage especially in Middle Guinea. Enrollments and attendance are much lower for all students in rural areas, but rural girls are more affected than rural boys. The percentage of female teachers (24%) is even lower than the percentage of female students. In 1994-95, there were 2,832 female teachers at the primary level out of a total of 11,652 teachers. In rural areas (1992-93), only 314 of 5,002 teachers were female (6 percent). At the primary level, although private schools are relatively few in number, they include 37.8% of girls as opposed to 30.7% in the public schools. 1.11 Preliminary results from an analysis of the incidence of public expenditure indicates that females receive a per capita public education subsidy that is, at the primary and secondary levels, about a half and a third, respectively, of that received by men. This is driven by the lower enrollment rates of girls, which means, in turn, that they benefit less from public education spending. In rural areas, the gender gap is even larger, with females receiving a per capita subsidy that is only about 43 percent of that received by males. Among the poorer expenditure quintiles, the difference between the genders is more extreme and among the richer quintiles it is less extreme. Similar results are found 4 at the secondary level4. 4World Bank (1995). Republic of Guinea. Public Expenditure Review (draft report).  7 Table 1.2: Evolution of female enrollment in Guinean primary schools, 1975-905 Total Total Years population Population in school enrollment rate Schooled" Total Girls' as % Girls in girls as % of children in of total in 7-12 Years school 7-12 Pop. school school 1975-1976 690877 66909 9.7 198849 33.64 28.78 1976-1977 714325 77859 11 225227 34.92 31.53 1977-1978 738670 80797 11 237999 33.94 32.22 1978-1979 763637 87137 11.4 252000 34.56 33.01 1979-1980 789554 88360 11.2 262833 33.61 33.28 1980-1981 816352 84930 10.4 257547 33.36 31.54 1981-1982 844059 82507 9.7 249905 33.01 29.60 1982-1983 872706 90793 10.4 247702 36.65 28.30 1983-1984 902326 79842 _ 9 246129 32.43 27.27 1984-1985 932951 90664 9.7 287804 31.50 30.84 1985-1986 364655 87544 24 276438 31.66 28.65 1986-1987 1001543 83044 8.3 270140 30.74 26.97 1987-1988 1018982 89398 8.8 288914 30.94 28.35 1988-1989 1056247 90761 8.6 295801 30.68 28.00 1989-1990 1083913 92584 8.5 310064 29.86 28.61 1994-1995 1286860 188094 14.7 562655 33.4 43.7 1.12 If fewer girls than boys enroll in school, they also repeat grades more often than boys (see Table 1.3). This trend increases in the upper grades. Girls are also less successful at the lower secondary entrance exam (see Table 1.4). Table 1.3: Number of primary students repeating each grade level, 1992-93/1994-958 Ist Grade 2nd Grade 3rd Grade 4th Grade 5th Grade 6th Grade All Grades Region Total Girls % Total % G Total % G Total % G Total % G Total % G Total % G Conakry 8118 45 6187 46 6608 43 4836 44 3539 42 4471 38 33760 43 Lower Guinea 4428 36 2769 35 3126 34 1841 31 1371 32 2133 26 15668 33 Middle Guinea 2870 34 1738 32 1930 30 1365 31 1260 30 1566 30 10729 32 Upper Guinea 2678 35 2014 34 1921 33 1313 31 1250 29 2561 23 11737 31 Forest Guinea 4171 33 2188 32 2234 29 1890 30 1952 28 2683 23 15118 29 Total 22265 38 14896 39 15819 37 11245 36 9372 34 13415 29 87012 36 Total 31168 38.9 22064 39.5 21834 38.8 15560 37.5 13794 35 21734 29.5 126154 36.8 1994-95 5Anderson-Levitt et al. (I 994). 6 Number of schooled girls divided by total population aged 7-12. Number of schooled girls divided by total schooled population. 8Tables 1.3, 1.4 and 1.5 come from Anderson-Levitt et al. (1994) and update from MEPUFP.  8 Table 1.4: Results of end-of-primary examination for admission to college (7th grade), June 1992 OFFICIAL I "FREE" 2 OFFICIAL "FREE" TOTAL % CANDIDATES CAND ADMITTED ADMITTED ADMITTED ADMITTED REGION Total Girls % Total Girls Total Girls Total Girls Total Girls Total Girls Conakry 8967 37 77 52 3330 33 47 49 3377 33 37.34 33.18 Lower 6203 25 34 50 3574 24 10 20 3584 24 57.46 54.62 Guinea Middle 5299 28 5 20 3169 27 5 20 3174 27 59.84 56.70 Guinea Upper 4983 21 4 50 1769 19 1 0 1770 19 35.49 32.53 Guinea Forest 6822 18 3 0 3396 15 0 0 3396 15 49.76 41.22 Guinea Total 32274 27 123 49 _15238 24 63 41 15301 24 47.23 42.13 'OfeiclC" candidates are the regular students in the public system as opposed to "free" candidates who are those who were eiLher expelled but allowed to come back or are just allowed to take the exam although they exceeded the allowed time either in school all together or at that particular level. 2. Lower Secondary General (collge) 1.13 Reflecting trends at the primary level, fewer girls than boys participate at those levels and even fewer succeed in the BEPC exam. In 1994-95, girls were 24,740 in the colleges, i.e. 25.6% of 96,720 students. Girls' participation at a rural college studied in Forest Guinea is detailed in Table 1.5. From 1990-91 to 1992-93, girls represented between 26% and 27% of the candidates to the BEPC exam, and between 17% to 23% of the students who passed (see Table 1.6). Table 1.5: Girls' participation at a rural collge of Forest Guinea Total Boys Girls % Girls Seventh grade 46 42 4 8.7% Eighth grade 83 69 14 16.9% Ninth grade 73 68 5 6.8% Entire college 202 170 23 11.4% Table 1.6: BEPC results, by gender, from 1991 to 19939 Candidates to the exam Successful candidates Year Total Girls % Girls Total Girls % Girls 1990-91 10,854 2,864 26.38% 4,365 753 17.25% 1991-92 12,282 3,311 26.95% 6,618 1,537 23.22% 1992-93 14,361 3,825 26.63% 5,484 1,252 22.83% Tables 1.6, 1.7 and 1.8 come from Cogne (1994).  9 3. Upper Secondary General (lycie) 1.14 In 1994-95, girls represented 22.1% of students in the lycdes (5,670 girls). Even though these figures are low, there has been an increase in female participation since 1990 (about 6.6 percent). Still, as demonstrated in Tables 1.7 and 1.8 below, only 13% pass the first part of the baccalaureat (end of 12th grade) and 9 percent of those who pass the second part (end of 13th grade) are girls. Table 1.7: Results at Baccalaureat I Candidates Successful candidates Year Total Girls % Girls Total Girls % Girls 1990-91 8,953 1,612 18 2,025 176 8.7 1991-92 7 827 1,234 15.8 2,671 351 13.1 1992-93 7,224 1,294 18 2,615 352 13.5 Table 1.8: Results at Baccalauriat I Candidates Successful candidates Year Total Girls % Girls Total Girls % Girls 1990-91 2,594 241 9.3 708 60 8.5 1991-92 2,895 251 8.7 1,983 158 7.7 1992-93 3,716 452 12.2 1,641 154 9.4 4. Vocational Education and Training (VET) 1.15 VET System In Guinea. The figures for the post-primary vocational training centers are eloquent: female students represented 12% of all students in 1985 and a striking low of 1.7 percent in 199210. In terms of the number of institutions and the various areas of specialization there are flagrant inequities between the opportunities offered to boys and to girls in the Guinean VET system. For instance, 30 separate programs are offered to boys through 19 institutions, whereas girls can only choose between 16 programs, all in 7 institutions. Girls represent a low proportion of students at all levels despite their proportion in the eligible school age population. Information systems that could help orient more girls toward VET are also lacking. 1.16 Labor Market. The same problem prevails regarding the placement of students on the job market (which is highly male-centered) and constitutes a handicap for both boys and girls. In terms of employment, no data are available on placement rates of VET graduates but interview results indicate that girls who received training in fields usually reserved for boys were not able to find jobs. It appears, then, that there is a close link between girls' admission into VET and the availability of outlets for them. Access for girls has decreased even in the traditionally female disciplines such as community health schools (Ecoles de soins de santd communautaire). From 57% in 1980-1981, girls' participation in such schools dropped to 39% in 1992-93, while overall students numbers 10Unless otherwise specified, references to VET and labor market in Guinea come from Cogne (1994).  10 remained unchanged. Hospitals deplore that there are fewer nurses than needed. Since 1987, only 37% of the graduating nurses are female. In areas such as agriculture, female participation is much lower and declining. At the Agriculture and Livestock School (Ecole nationale d'agriculture et d'elevage) the number of female students went from 22.4% of the total in 1985, to 6.2 percent in 1992-93, another considerable decrease in less than 10 years. E. OTHER EDUCATION DEVELOPNIENT ISSUES 1.17 From independence in 1958, the Government of the First Republic pursued a unique educational policy that included instruction in national languages in all primary schools, agricultural work as a part of the curriculum at all levels, and the linking of the education system to the political party at the local, regional, and national levels. Failure to send one's children to primary school was, in theory at least, sanctioned by fines and even imprisonment. Enrollment rates expanded somewhat and a large number of technicians and professionals were trained under this policy. Female schooling was encouraged notably by setting a lower achievement requisite for women's access to secondary schooling and reserving a quota for female students at the University. However, the sweeping nature of the reform combined with rapid enrollment growth and poorly trained teachers resulted in a low quality of education, inadequate external efficiency, and inefficient allocation of resources. Furthermore, the transition at the end of primary school to French as the sole language of instruction at secondary level was poorly prepared, resulting in reduced comprehension in secondary school and poorly qualified university students. Finally, girls' schooling became suspect since the standards for them were, by official policy, set lower than those for boys. 1.18 The policies of the First Republic regarding education were largely abandoned when the regime ended in 1984, in an attempt to revert to what was generally felt in Guinea to be the "real" school, (i.e., the pre-1958 education system). Positive discrimination actions were dropped due to resentment of what had been considered by men as an unfair enfranchisement of women. The Government of the Second Republic launched a program of reform and rehabilitation to improve access to education and to relate it to employment opportunities. French was re-introduced as the sole language of instruction, at least officially, but two generations of Guinean teachers did not speak fluent French, thereby compromising their ability to perform well in the new system. 1.19 In 1990, the Guinean Government embarked on an extensive administrative and financial reform through a sector adjustment program (Programme d'ajustement sectoriel de l'education, PA4SE ]) supported by IDA, USAID, and the French Government. This program comprised a series of administrative and policy reforms designed to support the further expansion and improvement of the primary education system. The Government also established targets to augment resources for education, expand enrollments, improve quality and efficiency, and strengthen management capacity. The following issues are currently being addressed through this program, and its continuation, PASE II.  11 1. Access 1.20 Government has succeeded in reversing the declining primary school enrollment trends of the 1980s and is currently ahead of schedule for attaining its target of 53% gross enrollment by the year 2000: gross primary school enrollment increased to 40% by the 1993-94 school year (an increase of 70% in nominal enrollments). This was made possible through: (i) an ambitious school construction program supported by community groups, non governmental organizations (NGOs) and donors, accompanied by development and implementation of low-cost construction norms; (ii) the redeployment of over 2,200 teachers from administrative posts and secondary schools to primary school classrooms; and (iii) a reallocation of budgetary resources in favor of non-salary operating expenditures, particularly at the primary level. 2. Rural/Urban Equity 1.21 The bias against rural students in the system is even more striking than that against girls: fewer than 20% of all students in primary schools are from rural areas, even though the rural population represents more than half of all potential students (only 13% of girls in primary school are from rural areas). The regions of Middle and Upper Guinea, which are largely rural, have gross enrollment rates of 27% and 28% respectively, while the Conakry region, entirely urban, has a gross enrollment rate of 73% (see Table 1.9). Table 1.9: Global descriptive statistics on Guinean primary schools: regional and urban/rural differences, 1992-93 REGION Students Teachers Class- % Schools Total Girls % Girls rooms Total Females Females Conakry Total 138 102681 42734 42 1364 1520 53 798 Lower Urban 72 57864 19107 33 512 623 45 278 Guinea Rural 412 21163 4668 22 1229 1074 5.8 62 Total 484 79027 23775 30 1741 1697 20 340 Middle Urban 90 59939 19400 32 494 479 49.5 237 Guinea Rural 630 23272 4839 21 1618 1188 10.8 128 Total 720 83211 24239 29 2112 1667 21.9 365 Upper Urban 85 49231 14660 30 466 510 40.4 206 Guinea Rural 414 15997 3483 22 1073 854 4.4 38 Total 499 65228 18143 28 1539 1364 17.9 244 Forest Urban 86 68886 19998 29 368 443 38.6 171 Guinea Rural 758 22836 4888 21 2148 1886 4.5 86 Total 844 91722 24886 27 2516 2329 11 257 Guinea Urban 471 338601 115899 34 3204 3575 47 1690 Rural 2214 83268 17878 21 6068 5002 6.2 314 Total 2685 412869 133777 32 9272 8577 23.4 2004 3. Quality 1.22 The most important indicator of educational quality is student learning outcomes which the Government does not yet have any reliable way of measuring. Available input  12 indicators would imply relatively low quality overall. Nation-wide, for instance, students average less than one textbook apiece and 24% of classrooms are classified as being in bad condition. Guinea uses both double session (in urban areas) and multigrade classrooms (in rural areas) to increase efficiency, with the result that the average number of students per teacher is 48 and varies by region from 39 to 64. Repetition rates have remained between 20% and 22% for the past three years, with a marginally higher rate for girls (23% in 1992-93). Yet, drop-out rates are considerably higher for girls. 1.23 Finance. Tuition at all levels is free. Government financing of the sector increased from 12.9% of the overall national recurrent budget in 1990, compared to an average of 18% in Sub-Saharan Africa, to 26.1% of the 1993 recurrent budget, not including debt and investment payments. Higher education continues to receive a disproportionate amount of both recurrent and investment budgets, although its share has been steadily reduced in recent years. The share of recurrent revenues for education is one of the lowest in Sub-Saharan Africa (17.3%). The budget distribution of pre- university education grew from 32% for primary education in 1990 to 35% in 1993. A further increase to 42% of sectoral expenditure in favor of primary school is planned by the year 2000. Maintenance and construction are managed by the MEPUFP, by donors, and by NGOs, but almost wholly funded by donors, communities, and NGOs. Local communities also bear a portion of the cost of schooling which, due to poverty, turns out to be overwhelming to most. Overall, therefore, school resources suffer from low funding from the Government and parents. Box 1-1: Lessons from school leavers and their families Our interviews with 12 school leavers and the parents of five of them reinforced the points made by the students. The school leavers said they had left school for a number of reasons. Among the seven young men, the main reasons were lack of money for uniforms, supplies and fees; work in the teachers" fields; and teachers or administrators who would not take them back after an absence due to family illness. Two of the young women mentioned pregnancy (including a pregnancy following rape), one a teacher who "sought" her, and one the lack of means when her sponsoring uncle died. In addition, these school leavers, who ranged in age from 16 to 27, also mentioned a problem that existed no longer: the national language. Two women and one man said they left school in whole or in part because they were not learning in French under the old regime. (Similarly, the students we interviewed unanimously declared that they preferred learning in French rather than Guerze.) They also noted that manual labor under the old regime could be much more time-consuming than the two or three evenings a week we witnessed. Forest Guinea, April 1994.11 1.24 Personnel. The redeployment of 2,200 sectoral personnel to primary school classrooms in 1992-93, unprecedented in Sub-Saharan Africa, was an example of the priority Guinea's education sector has given to improved personnel management. However, the lack of a systematic program for upgrading teacher skills through in-service I Anderson-Levitt et al. (1994).  13 training continues to constitute a major obstacle to personal management. This is exacerbated by an extremely underdeveloped communications system which makes it difficult to establish a give-and-take of feedback between central, regional and prefectoral offices. Initial training of primary school teachers in the ENI has recently been improved. 1.25 Statistical Data. Reasonably good school mapping and school statistics data are received and published each year by the MEPUEP, but to date, this information is under- utilized and the capacity for meaningful analysis is limited. The school mapping information is used throughout the country for reaching decisions about school rehabilitation and new school construction but is not easily accessible.  2. SCHOOL FACTORS AFFECTING GIRLS IN GUINEA 2.1 School factors in Guinea include not only the quality of the school, but also the treatment of children at school and in class. Data collected in 1994 by Anderson-Levitt et al. 12 reinforce what other researchers have reported about Guinean schools. The observations inside schools and classrooms add new and valuable insights regarding girls' experiences in the classroom. They clearly demonstrate that school factors are influencing girls' education as strongly as societal factors. What occurs in and around the classroom is directly related to girls dropping out of school. This in turn affects parents' decision to enroll others. 2.2 School experience, summarized as: (i) school supply; (ii) girls' experience in the classroom; and (iii) girls' social experience in and around school, explains how girls come to get lower grades than boys and why they have more trouble moving through primary school. However, it does not entirely explain girls' failure rates at end-of cycle exams. A. SCHOOL SUPPLY 1. School Structure 2.3 Few of the primary schools and only some of the colleges studied contained the full complement of grades. This discourages persistence, particularly for girls, who were less likely to walk the distance to another school with the grade they needed. More important, this has created a tradition of discontinued enrollment in rural areas: to complete the full cycle for pupils already in school, the school director, with, until recently, the approval of the DPE, would decide not to open a first grade class in order to open a fifth or sixth grade for children already enrolled. This has had a direct impact not only on rural children, but more specifically on girls' schooling: parents will not enroll a girl three or five years older than the average enrollment age for fear of pregnancy out of wedlock, or because she has already reached marriage age : since the average age in first grade is above eight years old, even if the girl is enrolled at the normal age, three years later, she already is in reproductive years. 2.4 Distance between home and school is a reason mentioned by 10% of parents whose children deserted school, even more in the school areas in Kankan and N'Zerekore. The absence of school in many rural areas is also a problem many parents deplored. Many of them live in areas where recruiting pupils is done only every other year. Lack of school and distance away from school have been found to be very significant in both girls' access and retention in school. In Mali, parents attribute their 12 Unless otherwise specified, findings and excerpts in Chapter 2 come from Anderson-Levitt et al. (1994). Sow (1994).  15 children's attendance and achievement, or their absence, to the availability of schools nearby. 80% of a sample of 157 rural parents surveyed state that the availability of schools, of wells closer to their homes, and the availability of grinding machines would encourage them to school their children in general, especially girls. This is first, because those facilities could help them save time, and second, because parents would be able to see their children, feed them properly, and supervise them. 2.5 School infrastructures are also determinant. In spite of the ongoing construction and rehabilitation program, and while some schools in the capital city and in some regions have an acceptable infrastructure, others visibly lack the basic necessities for teaching. Their staff complain about not receiving anything from higher level, blaming their problems on policy makers. The absence of latrines in most schools (urban and rural) also discourages girls. "[In a rural college] when the student body moved to this new building, the professors had some boys build one small palm-frond enclosure on the left side of the building. Most students interviewed said it was intended specifically for the girls, but some boys said it was meant for general use. In any case, "the boys went to sit next to it to see the girls" when they used it. The girls stopped using the enclosure and used the "bush". The professors made some boys build two more enclosures on the right side of the building, one for professors and one for girls, while boys were to use the enclosure on the left side. That way, explained some boys, "the professors supervise so the boys don't go too close." But, everyone agreed, the girls still go to the bush instead of using any enclosure. No one said so, but the new enclosure for girls could be seen from the window of the teachers' office, which might have represented more supervision than the girls desired. The girls, we leamed later, were somewhat nervous about using the bush because they could not always lay claim to their own wooded area." 2.6 Distance becomes a real problem once children have reached the college level. "With a few exceptions, the boarding students complained about living with host families. Many said they did not eat breakfast before they came, and some said they ate a meal on returning from school only every few days. In addition, several noted that the tuteurs (host family) supplied no lamp for evening study or that they had to pay for the oil themselves. Both boys and girls reported disputes over whether they were doing the work the tuteurs expected, and these disputes seemed to explain some of the missed meals. Both boys and girls reported doing work around the household and in the fields for parents or tuteurs. Girls reported more work before school, while boys' accounts suggested that boys found a little more free time during the afternoon or evening. We infer that boys who were motivated could find more time to study their lessons than most girls." 2. Coeducation and Teachers' Gender 2.7 Coeducation is also a factor explaining some parents' reluctance towards schooling their daughters. In both Guinea and Mali, parents expressed their fear of out- of-wedlock pregnancy. While some Guinean parents think separate schools for girls could be a solution, some would prefer a male teacher on the ground of teachers and  16 parents differ on this issue. Some teachers recommend that girls and boys be separated after sixth grade while parents, for the most part, see no reason for such a separation. 58% of 544 surveyed rural parents think that the teacher's gender is unimportant, while 53% see it as a normal thing to have both their daughters and sons in the same 14 classroom 2.8 Some parents even believe that male instructors are be better than females, with regards to quality as well as absenteeism. This is a position consistent with their attitude regarding boys' and girls' ability to succeed. They also think girls could encounter other men even when they are taught solely by female teachers. 3. Children's Work for Teachers 2.9 Parents strongly resent the use of their children (both boys and girls) by instructors for their own benefit. Instructors are said to employ boys in their fields during the rainy season, and girls Box 2-1: Work for teachers by college students for their household chores during the session. Parents When we asked students at the end of interviews what teachers did complain that some that they, the students, did not like, the response was remarkably instrucmpla go so far as clear. "They make us work too much in their fields and on the instructors go so far as school grounds", said more than half the students (22 out of 41). sending students to work To be fair, many students--most of them boys--said they had on other people's farm and "nothing" to complain about. Note that it was only half the receive the payment for it teachers who owned or rented fields and thus could make use of almost as a kind of student labor. Students said they collected firewood for teachers who had no fields. During the period of heavy cultivation, which indentured servitude, happened to coincide with our visit in April, students were made to Parents (as in Mali) come return to school after an hour's break two or three days a week, to to the conclusion that they work for two or three hours. Students also complained about would prefer to keep their being made to do manual labor on days preceding examinations, children home under such and about being made to stay after the end of the school year to circumstances. It is also finish collIge work. the case that female Rural college, Forest Guinea, 1994. teachers also use female students to run errands for their household needs while they teach--causing such girls to miss the session. Students dislike it but cooperate since they tend to think the teacher has the right to do anything he or she wants while rural parents feel they have no power when it comes to dealing with teachers. 4. Curriculum 2.10 Results from survey and interviews about curriculum issues must be interpreted with caution. It is important to take parents' desires into account, but with caution, since the fact remains that most of those parents who express concerns regarding the curriculum relevancy for their daughters know little if anything of what is taught. In one Sow (1994).  17 study for instance'5, 50% of parents dislike the fact that their daughters learn the same thing as boys thinking that girls need to learn things relevant to their future duties of housewives. What is more significant is that similar reactions come from instructors. In Guinea as in Mali, some teachers and school administrators also suggest that topics such as home economics need to be more available so as to prepare girls for their future household responsibilities. 5. School Problems 2.11 Certain problems affect all students and their parents but, given the more tentative nature of girls' participation, and the fact that girls are more in need of role models than boys are, they may affect girls' persistence more than boys' (see Table 2.1). These include: Teacher absenteeism. In Guinea where the female students seem in desperate need of role models, the attitude of some teachers, female teachers in particular, can constitute a discouraging factor. Mothers who need girls to work at home ask why they should sit idle at school. In one primary school the president of the APEAE complained about teacher absenteeism which he thought was more common among female teachers--who also happened to be the majority in that school--and needed to be addressed if children were to learn more effectively; Lack of textbooks and other teaching materials, which both teachers and students bemoan bitterly; and Miscellaneous fees levied by the teachers, such as the bench-seat in classroom (see Box 2-2) or "gifts" in cash16, at college level, as described in Table 2.1. Sow (I 994). 16 Ibid  18 Table 2.1: Rural collge students' opinion What do teachers do that you don't like? Mentioned by Mentioned by boys Total mentions girls (n=20) (n=2 1) Require too much manual labor. 22 14 8 Nothing. 12 3 9 Collect miscellaneous fees. 6 5 1 One professor doesn't teach well. 4 3 1 Ask girls out. 3 3 0 Be severe with or make fun of girls. 3 3 0 Insult us. 1 0 1 Hit students when they're late. I 1 0 Suspend us for minor infractions. I 0 1 Physics and chemistry. 2 1 1 B. GIRLS' EXPERIENCE IN THE CLASSROOM AND GENDER STEREOTYPES 2.12 Given the selection process and all the hindrances against girls, it is clear that girls who reach level six as candidates for the end-of-primary CEPE and for the end-of-college BEPC exams go through much more severe hardships than boys. Therefore, one might reasonably expect that the few remaining girls would succeed in greater proportion than boys. As can be seen in Tables 1.4 and 1.6, however, more girls than boys fail the exams. 1. Achievement and Persistence 2.13 "In general, girls in the selected samples of schools for the study face failure in a higher proportion than boys. Girls' reading is graded as poorer than boys' in primary school. In both primary and college classrooms, girls are more likely than boys to be ranked among the average or the poor students. Girls dropped out or repeated a grade more than boys in the observed primary schools in Guinea. Passage from first to second grade and from fifth to sixth grades were the two particular points at which girls failed in much higher proportion than boys. In this context, it is important to recall that many school leavers throughout the country--leavers meaning here those who deserted on their own--male and female, said they would return to school if schools accepted them after their long absences. As is true country-wide, girls in the studied sample of schools who persisted long enough to become candidates for examinations at the end of primary or the end of college also failed those examinations in higher proportions than boys." 17 Some of the 41 students responding gave multiple answers. Although boys did not seem to resent fees collection, seven boys complained about the fees elsewhere in the interviews.  19 2. Gender Stereotypes 2.14 Both personal attitudes Box 2-2: Teachers' biased attitudes and comments from students and teachers, and towards girls textbook content tend to reinforce gender bias in school. One teacher implied that girls were simply not as intelligent Gender stereotypes are not as boys. "The average girl is in the same group as the weak boy" he said. This was striking because he happened to teach widespread among first-grade the class in which girls tended to be among the better students but by fifth grade, both students. boys and girls subscribe to gender stereotypes that generally Likewise, some teachers insulted boys by comparing them favor boys. Girls thus internalize with girls. Having just asked Anne-Marie to "speak up", the professor called on Joseph, who spoke more softly than she. self-images of inferiority that The teacher said, "But speak up. You talk like a..." True, he work against them. Such a did not complete the sentence in our presence, but another change cannot be explained by teacher was not so shy and filled in the blank as the former school alone as discussed above. must have meant to imply: "But speak up; you're not a girl". Rural primary teachers as well as Rural col&ge, Forest Guinea, 1994 college teachers subscribe to , gender stereotypes that generally favor boys. Pedagogical examples that teachers give, sometimes drawn from a textbook, do a good job of reflecting children's personal experiences. However, while supporting the value of village men's and women's work, such examples tend to also reinforce gender stereotypes. If books show more of such images therefore, they will do little to convince even girls that anything different is expected of them as a result of schooling. For instance, girls will--as is the case in the schools--expect to be performing domestic chores such as cleaning, or let boys "rule" them since they are "incapable of assuming leadership". Boys, on the other hand, feel so comfortable in class they "help" the teacher reprimand girls and do so whenever they feel appropriate. 2.15 One common teaching technique is to bring in examples from students' own experiences. For example, the first sentence in one set of French exercises is: "Les mjnageres du quartier savent alors laver le linge" (The housewives of the area know, then, how to do laundry). Such examples help validate the kind of work done by the students and their families in rural environment. However, at the same time the examples tend to reinforce the traditional division of labor, often at the expense of girls. Another example to illustrate the foregoing follows in Box 2-3.  20 Box 2-3: Example which reinforce girls' negative image One of the science teachers led students in a discussion of the local blacksmiths and their work to make the point that all things, like the blacksmiths' iron bars, expand when heated. Then he brought up the example of cooking. "Solids don't expand much, but liquids do, he said. Think about after school, at your meal. Ah! Each of you knows how to cook, don't you? Well, we'll ask Mademoiselle because here women cook and men eat." And he began to question one of the girls. Several boys eagerly raised their hands as the teacher questioned the girl about cooking rice, and the teacher teased them that they must know how to cook because they were in such a hurry to speak in her place. Eventually he got the girl to say that rice boils; then he acted out the process of boiling while students spontaneously chimed in with sound effects. "Thus", he summarized, "liquid increases in volume".'8 In choosing these two examples, the professor very nicely linked the study of thermodynamics to the students' everyday experiences. He also made sure that one of his examples drew especially on girls' experiences, and he defended a girl's right to the floor until he had drawn a comment from her: a rather interesting aspect, given that girls are usually underestimated and ignored, as if a way a telling them "this is your domain". Yet at the same time he reinforced, however "jokingly", the idea that women work to serve men: "Women cook and men eat", and boys who seem to know anything about cooking are fair game for teasing. Rural college, Forest Guinea, 1994. 2.16 Such societal level conceptions are reflected through teachers', girls', and boys' attitudes. Students on the other hand behave in class as if boys should be more comfortable and help the teacher "coach" girls, scolding them and threatening them whenever they felt the need to do so. Societal level conceptions are carried along to school and cause the change in attitudes among children who hold unbiased and positive images of self and of each other by first grade age only to change against girls later (see Table 2.2). 18Using everyday examples did present some pedagogical challenges. In the case of the iron bars, students focused on the fact that the bars got longer because blacksmiths hammered them rather than because heat made them expand. Similarly, in the case of boiling, the professor had to clarify at the end of his resume, "Of course, the boiling water rises in the pot largely because of the bubbles that expand it. But even without the bubbles, you would have observed a slight increase in the volume of the water."  21 Table 2.2: Summary of teachers', girls', and boys' attitudes about boys and girls in Guinea Primary College Girls' Attitudes Boys' Attitudes Girls' Attitudes Teachers Teachers Ist/2nd grade' Grades 5-6 Grades 5-6 (n=21) (n=24) (n=85) (n=54) (n50) More Typical of: Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Girls Boys Are girls, boys, or both girls and boys more likely to: I. Learn lessons well 7 19 9 23 11 11 32 42 18 47 2. Raise hand ofen 10 19 8 24 12 11 31 44 25 50 3. Give good responses 3 19 6 23 11 8 21 38 14 46 4. Rarely give good response 18 7 24 7 11 12 31 25 36 27 5. Get quiet when asked question 16 10 22 10 12 8 40 23 30 27 6. Use good French expression 6 17 9 21 8 14 29 36 20 48 7. Understand math well 12 20 4 22 10 11 27 40 13 49 8. Have ambition 9 19 15 20 8 11 28 36 20 40 9. Like competition 11 15 10 21 8 12 21 32 19 37 lO.Liketohelppeers 10 18 12 19 11 7 26 37 21 42 11. Be smart 6 19 4 22 9 9 13 35 18 36 12. Work hard, make an effort 10 18 9 19 10 12 29 32 19 40 13.Makelittleeffort 17 7 21 12 13 11 19 28 30 29 14. Show little interest in school 13 8 18 12 11 13 15 33 21 28 15. Be well behaved 21 8 20 10 14 3 37 21 39 27 16. Behave badly 5 19 9 19 6 13 10 38 19 43 17. Be timid 19 7 22 5 16 4 42 13 37 16 2.17 Either from Box 2-4: Some teachers do try to encourage girls experience or as a result of Government Both boys and girls recited a slogan to us, "A woman's first husband is her job/career", before we heard it from one of the teachers. Another campaigns, some teacher explained what he did during examinations: "During teachers seem to be more examinations...we give a little advantage to the girls. For example... boys concerned about girls and are often quicker. If a lot of the girls have not finished, I am obliged to have noticeable attitude allow more time". towards helping them The Math professor expressed a similar intention to compensate when he ;isurvive". In Forest explained why he called on girls relatively often: if they are not survive". In Forest questioned, they think they're forgotten, and they stop working. Guinea for instance, Therefore we teachers give them a lot of support, advise them to keep teachers in a rural collge working. Here, a woman thinks that eventually she will be given to expressed that girls might someone. But we know that the true husband of a woman is work. feel forgotten if they are Therefore, that obliges us to question them even more in class not called upon. Rural College, Forest Guinea, 1994. 3. Classroom Interaction 2.18 In contrast to reports about other African countries and to parents' perceptions, classroom observations in Guinea indicate that most teachers call on some girls regularly, no matter what the grade level. However, teachers tend to call on volunteers and/or star students, and the interaction patterns in often crowded classrooms intimidate many girls (and some boys). Therefore, in many classrooms the majority of girls and boys get left out. However, since teachers tend to focus on star students (who are rarely girls), teachers recognize that the slow and shy ones become neglected especially where there is  22 a large syllabus to cover in an overcrowded classroom. Female teachers show no less gender bias than male teachers in classroom interaction--another reason to address the issue not only at the school level but also within the communities and society as a whole. 2.19 Corporal punishment--an officially banned but widely used practice--and harsh teacher attitudes also have a negative impact on children. Girls, in particular, seem to be more affected. For instance, an instructor would punish boys and they would repeat their conduct a few minutes later. When girls are punished, however, they remain calm and withdrawn (not participating in class). Corporal punishment is also more detrimental to girls in that sometime, besides ear-pinching and whipping, the instructor pulls girls' hair (it is longer than boys'). Insults from a male teacher as well as corporal punishment discouraged students, particularly some girls. Teacher attitudes toward older girls (who are repeaters or do not perform well in class) are believed to discourage many and cause them to drop out on their own. Such teacher attitudes are manifested by verbal abuse that undermines the girl's confidence and interest. 2.20 Classroom observations show how important a good teacher can be for a girl's success. A student could be among the best under one instructor and become the worst under another. A case in point here is a brilliant female student who Box 2-5: A little girl's frustration excelled under a female teacher onfly The teacher asks, "Who can read?" The girl raises her to find herself ridiculed for the hand. "You cannot read, can you?" says the teacher, remainder of the school year by a yelling loud: "Let's see". No longer confident and male teacher who replaced the comfortable, she reads one word in a very low voice previous one--promoted to and suddenly he yells: "Sit down, that is it. You do directorshipelsewhere. Under her not know how to read." After designating a boy who reads the text (making some errors but not corrected), first teacher, this girl ranked fourth in the teacher continues: "Who else?" The same girl her class of 80 students, with an raises her hand again. "You, you cannot read, you average grade of 7.16 (that of the know nothing", he says, but she still has her hand up. head of class is 8.0 out of 10). Under "You can?" She says, "Yes" and starts reading. She makes a mistake and the teacher yells and makes her sit her second teacher, shed d down. He then designates a boy to read and corrects obvious interest in participating all the boy's mistakes as he reads. the time in both Math and French Urban primary school, Conakry, 1994. classes. She raised her hand and even .. moved out of her seat or stood up to make sure the instructor saw her hand up. Each time, however, the (new) teacher tells her, "You like to raise your hand [but] you say nothing good", "You can't do it [solve a math problem], you don't understand anything", and so on. On the second day of observation, less than five minutes after the teacher had dismisses her participation attempt, the exchange in Box 2-5 takes place. The instructor even called on another boy who speaks the same language as this girl to ask her what she had leamed throughout the previous months because the teacher believed she did not understand him at all. The same instructor divided his classroom into two rows of good students and two rows of bad ones, most of whom were girls, and while the brilliant girl kept getting negative feedback, the "bad" ones paid no attention at all.  23 2.21 Quite a few teachers single out girls to participate, but the efforts sometimes backfire. Boys sometimes Box 2-6: Boys sometimes physically harass girls used physical force, threats of violence, and personal The most dramatic case of physical interference took place in a teasing to keep girls quiet rural college classroom, in Middle Guinea, where the teacher had in class and to discourage initiated a discussion of the pros and cons of excision (female circumcision), which is practiced in some parts of Guinea). The them from taking sole girl in the classroom--who might have been expected to make leadership roles. Such a contribution on this of all topics--raised her hand and held it up incidents have been as the teacher continued to call on boys. Eventually, the boy observed in various parts of sitting behind her pulled her arm down. She, however, persisted, raising her arm again and rising in her place. At last the teacher the country and say a great called on her and she succeeded in making her comment. deal about girls' Although the boy's intervention did not actually prevent the girl experiences and their from participating, its symbolic message was clear. In relationship with teachers combination with the teacher's delay in calling on her, it signaled and male peers. No such that members of the class discouraged her participation. incidents have been Rural college, Middle Guinea, 1994. recorded between girls or between boys. It was consistently boys attacking girls, and most of the time at the college level, and with the teacher frequently saying nothing. Group work (initiated by some instructors in an urban primary school, for instance) has potential for getting all children involved, but girls tend to remain peripheral in the cases observed. C. GIRLS' SOCIAL EXPERIENCE 1. In and around School: Girls Are Punished for their Gender 2.22 In Guinea as well as in many developing countries, the simple fact of being a girl can constitute a severe handicap. At both primary schools and colleges in Guinea, girls perform daily chores (sweeping, mopping, carrying water) that boys perform weekly or occasionally as a punishment. At some schools these chores removed students from the classroom during instructional time and despite the fact that girls were the minority in the schools, they performed the majority of the chores. Hence, since housekeeping tasks were also assigned as punishment, girls were implicitly being punished for their gender. Classroom observations led to appalling discoveries. The following is a sample of what happens to girls everyday.  24 Box 2-7: When cleaning becomes more important than staying in class At 10:00 a.m. all students are on break. The yard gets animated and noisy. Fifteen minutes later, the bell rings, children line up, walk back into their respective classrooms, and class resumes. The observer notices that a number of girls remain outside. Some of them only have their shorts on. Some are sweeping the veranda while others follow them, mopping. Eleven o'clock, and the cleaning goes on. Around 11:15, the director walks into the classroom, follows a bit and decides to take over and show the instructor how to better teach elocution, a speech sessic, In the meantime, a topless little girl enters the room, walks past the observer and the instructors. She goes to the back of the room, kneels down and starts mopping. Some female classmates look at her and smile, some tease her and she smiles. Perhaps, having caught the observer's interested look, the director says to the instructor: "X, never allow this kind of thing again. Some cleaning while others study!" The mopping and cleaning continue, nevertheless, until noon. The girls put their dresses back on and walk to their seats. This is what girls do from Monday to Friday, early before eight o'clock and in mid-morning. Some have the responsibility of keeping the toilets and the director's office cleaned every day. The main concern of the school authorities is to maintain the school's good look, a task that, it seems, is for girls to do. It is sad, however, to realize that every day, girls miss something they never catch up on. Boys do their share--bringing gravel from one part of the school yard to another--or collecting the trash when they are punished for some other things, but they do so during break or on Saturdays, not during sessions. Urban primary school, Conakry, 1994. 2. Schooling and Sexuality 2.23 "[CollNge] teachers insisted on the need for early and complete sex education. Of course, students learned about the reproductive cycle in Biology class, said one professor, and "quand il ne faut pas avoir des garqons ai c6te de soi (and when you shouldn't be near boys)". His phrasing implied that girls were the ones who needed sex education, even though boys, too, were said to suffer consequences from precocious sexual relations and their responsibility for causing pregnancies. The girls strongly agreed that they needed sex education. At the end of the interviews, we asked, "Is there anything you would like to ask us?" and, to our surprise, several girls offered the same comment: "We don't know the timing of our monthly cycles." Soon, three girls came to visit us "at home" one day on the pretext of bio iging water. They sat studying a notebook together; when I asked if I could see, I was stunned to discover that it contained a record of one of the girl's menstrual cycles. She had also noted information (obtained from browsing in a book, she said) on which days were "jours interdits (forbidden days)" and which were "jours amusables (days when "fun" was allowed)." 2.24 In all regions of Guinea, there are cases where girls did not come back to school because their parents married them off at an early age (either to prevent unwed pregnancies or for other reasons). Many girls withdrew from school at marriage, but some were able to remain in school. Each of the 17 sampled schools (in all five regions) had cases of girls who became pregnant. Some dropped out at this point while others returned to school after giving birth. Many of the latter found it difficult to keep their grades up, even if they had good child care help at home, but a few young mothers were able to persist even through higher education. The young wives sometimes receive extra  25 support for their schooling, but also take on the extra burdens of wifely duties and, often, childbearing. 2.25 "Of the 23 girls in the college, 6 had become pregnant, some (as far as we could learn from interviews) through involvement with other students, some through involvement with older men). When girls became pregnant, their reactions varied. At least one girl had had an abortion, arranged by her parents, and it was only because the abortion had nearly killed her that when she became pregnant again she bore the child. She had left for maternity leave in December, but she and her mother intend that she return and finish. Another girl, who apparently had had very poor grades before getting pregnant, dropped out. A third girl was apparently thrown out of school when her pregnancy was discovered, but had come back by the time we arrived; she was not yet "showing" and we never leamed the full story. Three girls had borne their babies and been able to return to school, thanks to mothers who cared for the babies while they studied. These girls had been good studpnts, but apparently due to night-time feedings and occasions when their babies became ill, their grades had dropped." 2.26 In all regions, it was found that college teachers and, occasionally, primary teachers proposition female students. The practice is in general resented by most students--both male and female (Box 2-8). Box 2-8: Girls are blamed by their peers for dating a teacher It should be pointed One of the complaints mentioned by a few girls was teachers who ask girls out that girls display a out (proposent leur candidature). At an earlier point in the interviews, we cultural characteristic asked 41 of the students if they thought such a thing ever happened. One that consistently boy said he had no idea whether it did, and three other boys plus one girl comes up from said simply that it was possible. Of those who gave firmer responses, the parents, teachers, as gender difference was revealing. Half the boys (out of 16) said they believed teachers dated girls and half did not, but most of the girls (16 out well as students: the of 19) said they believed it happened. It is important to note that even conviction that students who believed this happened were sure that most teachers were marriage is the most innocent and that only one or two might do such things. If a teacher asked a important thing for girl out, why would a girl say yes? Some students said she would do so to girls, far more the protect herself against public insults or extra manual labor from the rejected man; others said she would do it in order to improve her grades, especially conviction that if she were failing. marriage is the most Rural college, Forest Guinea, 1994. important thing for them. All the collIge girls interviewed think it is wrong for the instructor to date his female students but they also think it is all right if the teacher's intention is marriage.  26 2.27 Girls who accept risk pregnancy and the resentment of peers as well as some faculty (see Box 2-9). Like in the case of Mai, a young Malian girl who quit school in sixth grade (see Box 2-10), girls Box 2-9: The teacher's student dating also affects the school climate who refuse A girl believed to be dating one of the instructors was yelling and throwing hands at sometimes the surveillant general the general supervisor who is in charge of logistics and suffer reprisals discipline for the whole school. The observer and a few other teachers listened with that can lead to attention. The girl was denied access to class by the instructor and then by the supervisor because she had failed to wear her uniform. Unhappy with that decision, dropping out. she started yelling at the man, saying, "Who can prevent me from getting in? You? I Boys think an doubt it. If I really want to, I can get in at any time." The supervisor, who became instructor should very upset, stopped arguing with her and walked away, saying, "It's [instructor's neither data nor name] who brings this kind of dirt here. This is not a student. I am going to take my marry his case to the DPE." Many late-coming students--boys and girls--were also in the yard stdt While listening. One of the instructors tried to intervene, begging the supervisor to solve the student. problem at the school level by talking to the director, because once it got to the DPE it students report would not receive the proper attention. However, the supervisor was determnined to that refusal to send his letter to the DPE. date an Urban college, Middle Guinea, 1994. instructor can have bad consequences for a girl, they agree that to accept also has serious implications including unfairness to other students, disrespect and even administrative problems. Yet, college instructors do not seem to see the teacher/female student relations as a problem at all. They even tease each other about it in very casual ways during conversations. For instance, "this man has been here for 25 years and still cannot make up his mind and pick one. I wonder what you are waiting for," said an instructor to one of his colleagues during a break session, by the director's office. Box 2-10: Some girls even chose to drop out to escape teacher harassment He [the director of a small 3-multigrade-classroom-rural school] tries to follow me every evening on my way back home [about 4 kms from school]. He asks me to stop and I refuse. When I outrun him, he returns. The next morning, he gives me a lot of work to do either in the school yard or for his wife at home. One evening, he followed me, yelling, but I refused to stop. The next day, as soon as I arrive at school, he picks up my school bag, turns it upside down, dumps out all of my school supplies before all my class-mates, and throws my empty bag at me. I felt so humiliated [in tears, sitting next to her father]. I came back home and told my father the story and he asked me to stay home because he had no power. Look, this is an old notebook of mine. I cannot [tears] read it anymore because I forgot how to read. "She was a good student", says her father, "she really liked school and we asked her to do nothing so she could study, but now it is over." Asked why he did not complain to authorities in the ciry, the father simply responded: "it would not make any difference. The teacher will deny it and make mv child's life even more miserable when she goes back. We have no power."l Mai (primary school dropout) and her father. Sikaso, Mali, 1993.  3. DEMAND AND HOUSEHOLD-RELATED FACTORS AFFECTING GIRLS' SCHOOLING 3.1 Household factors such as parents' income, the opportunity costs, their education level, the number of children in the household, for instance, are found to be very significant in determining families' demand for schooling, since investment decisions are made at the local level. Poverty and culture are found to be key determining factors, while Islam, the predominant religion in the country, does not appear to be the major handicap. Although some religious communities in Guinea resist sending girls to "French" school because of their fears and beliefs, imams in general do not object to 19 20 "French" schooling for girls . In Mali , for instance, religion apparently no longer constitutes a significant barrier against girls' schooling, whereas culture has been seen as much more significant in recent studies. In Guinea, the government's policy involving the use of religious leaders to motivate parents seems to be working, at least to some extent, in motivating more parents to school their daughters. As reported by members of the Ministry of Education's Commission on Equity, many parents in the rural areas are changing attitudes regarding the schooling of their daughters as a result of the involvement of the imams and other respected elders of the village. A. PARENTAL DECISION MAKING REGARDING FEMALE SCHOOLING 3.2 The studies in Guinea demonstrated that the father and the mother are the key decision makers. However, they sometimes play important but very different roles in 21 whether or not their daughters will stay in school . In theory the father is the one who covers school expenses 22(90.4% of parents agree to that while 9.6 percent say it is the mother who covers such expenses23). On rare occasions, other family members such as older siblings, or aunts and uncles may also decide or suggest or an instructor may contact parents. The decision may also be as a result of other neighbors having sent their children. In each case, the father's opinion is very important. In polygamic households mothers are those who pay for most costs24 and these mothers encourage their children a great deal, due to the competitive nature of relationships between wives in such households. Sow (1994). 20 All references to Mali come from Maiga-Soumard (1994). 21Maiga-Soumar6 (1994), Sow (1994). 22 Sow (1994). 23 Ibid. (I1994). 24 lbid. (1994).  28 3.3 However, the mothers' consent is the determining factor in the girl's staying in school. Her opposition to her daughter's schooling is a crucial factor of dropout for Box 3-1: Mother's power the girl. As presented in Box 3-1, mothers I sent my daughters to school but I think your are said to use all types of "tricks" to keep efforts [the researcher, seen as a problem solver] their daughters out of school because they should center on mothers. After the girls started need them at home and because they are school, my wife went to see a shaman25 who very fearful of the consequences of helped her discourage the girls about school. school. There is an indication that due to They started missing classes more often and their culture of labor division, their needs, ended up quitting. and their responsibilities in the household Rural farner, Mali, 1993. chores, mothers are more preoccupied by their daily subsistence needs than any long-term benefits schools might bring them. During interviews with fifty college girls in Guinea, the girls described days full of household chores and school time, leaving them little, if any, time to study at home. When asked when they learn their lessons, a few indicated that when they prepare exams their mothers--teachers in this case--help them with the chores. Thus, when school takes their daughters away, only mothers who know about school or have some reason to believe in it support their daughters. They may do what they can to get them back. Marriage (57% of respondents) and domestic chores (39% of respondents) are listed by 26 Guineans as the primary causes of girls' dropping out in rural areas" . 1. Parents' Poverty Versus Direct Costs of Girls' Schooling 3.4 In Guinea, as in many West African countries, parents' poverty constitutes a 27 severe barrier against girls' schooling. In 1991 , 45% of parents with daughters who deserted school blamed the dropping out on their own lack of financial means. Parents are not able to provide uniforms, school supplies and other needs. 55% of parents with unschooled daughters share the same view. There are some regional differences worth mentioning. The percentage of such parents is higher in Kankan (Upper Guinea) where 70% of parents prefer to give priority to boys instead, due to financial reasons. Some parents in The Gambia28 also have similar attitudes when it comes to prioritizing opportunities for girls and boys. Since they believe girls do poorly in school, and think Coranic schools better prepare them for their "lifetime career" which is marriage and motherhood, those parents prefer to send their son to school when facing limited resources. 25 Traditionally called medicine man or wizard, he can cure the sick and also solve other problems that are not necessarily health related. 26 Sow (1994). 27 Kourouma (1991). 28 All references to Gambia come from Kane (1993).  29 3.5 Poverty being important in some areas of the country such as Upper Box 3-2: The cost of student's desk Guinea, many rural parents recognize The desk (le table banc) for one child alone costs me that the more children they have in 6,000 GNF. I have both my children and my school, the greater their problems given brother's. If five of them go to school, imagine how all that thev have to supply for each much the seats alone would cost me. We have no school child. For first grade, the income. What I harvest from my field is what we live on all year long. Both my boys and girls help us expense amounts to GNF16,400 a year . b > exenemonso NF1,40 with water and firewood. At night they need to bum for girls, GNF18,400 for boys, at the more firewood to learn their lessons (no lamps). So beginning of school year. For the sixth you see, it is not that we do not want it, we cannot grade, amounts are GNF21,250 and afford it. 30 GNF19,250 respectively . Statistics on 29 Guinea indicate a per capita income of A rural parent in Kankan, April 1994. US$537. For a typical family of six children alive, schooling of all children would at least mean more than US$100 a year, not to mention food if children are far from home or additional "fees" levied by school Table 3-1: Yearly private cost estimates directors, teachers, or the APEAEs. for primary school pupils (first grade) Since these expenditures mean cash, and given the uneven distribution of cash Type Cost estimate income between rural and urban areas, not to mention urban poor, the schooling Uniforms GNF5,612 School supplies GNF8,939 cost may be too great. In addition, registration fees GNF5,092 parents have to contribute for their Cost for various needs GNF3,3722 children's school, for instance by School booklet GNFI,508 providing man-power for the school Medical expenses GNF12,000 building maintenance. Teachers, Student desk GNF4.625 Transportation GNF2,500 students, former students, parents, all Expenses for taking exam GNF6,000 see costs of schooling as the single Shoes GNF3,000 biggest hindrance to education and to Birth certificate GNF3,000 girls schooling in particular. A cost estimate by teachers is detailed in Table 3.1. The cost of uniforms seems to vary depending on whether it has been estimated by parents, in which case it is more expensive for boys as indicated above, or by teachers, in which case it is more expensive for girls (GNF5,372), than for boys (GNF4,51 1). Both parents and teachers agree, however, that girls' needs are more costly than boys' and can constitute a barrier to their school attendance. 3.6 "In Forest Guinea, some girls and many boys report working for cash. Both boys and girls hire themselves out by the day to work in someone's field, for labor force is 29 Anderson-Levitt et al. (1994). 30 Sow (1994). The difference between girls and boys comes from the uniform cost, and other female needs. Boys' uniform includes short pants and shirts while girls consists of an apron or a loose dress.  30 apparently scarce in this region. School expenses in Guinea also include occasional fees, plus the GNF400 needed to buy a new notebook. "Are you ever absent?" we asked students. "Yes", said several, "when I have to go get money to buy a notebook." "Do you ever come late?", they were asked. Out of 100 students interviewed (50 boys and 50 girls), more than 50% of boys said they never came late to class while more than 50% of girls said they often came late mainly due to the chores they perform in the morning prior to coming to school31." 2. High Opportunity Costs Constitute a Considerable Hindrance 3.7 For the most part, household barriers that prevent girls' schooling are economic. Whether the causes are direct Box 3-3: We'll do anything to keep them home costs, indirect costs, or even "bride price", it all boils down to When we decided to put pressure on parents so they would let poverty which increases more of their daughters go to school, the shepherds of a Peul dramatically the opportunity cost village told us that they preferred to give us two to five cows of girls' schooling in terms of so the girls could remain home because they helped them household work, the priorities it look after, and take care of their cattle. To them, the young ipss addces the girls' role in the daily life is crucial. imposes, and decreases the availability of better alternatives. A district leader in Middle Guinea, November 1993. 32 Thus, in some cases, parents would even offer bribes, when they can, to keep their daughters home for their day to day needs as illustrated in Box 3-3. Conditions imposed by rural parents' limited resources are worsened by the absence of time and labor-saving technologies that urban areas have access. Mothers usually perform the daily household chores and cannot do without their daughters' assistance. In Guinea, as in most developing countries (similar cases are found in Togo3', Benin34, The Gambia, Mali), girls' participation in school is seriously affected by household chores. 3.8 In rural Guinea as well as in all other rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa, girls' activities vary from gathering wood and fetching water, to farm work or shepherding at times, and preparing food. Sending girls to school is costly to parents since they not only have to forsake the invaluable help they receive from girls, but also have to satisfy some additional needs brought by school such as buying school supplies. 95% of schooled girls help their mothers in household chores; 55% of those help everyday while 45% help only on Sundays. In other words, more than 50% of schooled girls help with family 31 Anderson-Levitt etal. (1994). 3 Ibid. 33 World Bank. draft report # 13131 -TG (1994). CBRS ( 1988).  31 chores regardless of whether school is in session or not.35 In locations such as Kankan, and even in Conakry, the capital city, girls also practice some kind of commerce consisting in selling fruits or vegetables, or clothing, or shoes in order to help the family. 3.9 The impact of forgone earnings for rural girls in Mali, has been found to be highly significant in both their enrollment and dropping out (more significant on enrollment than in dropping out). Forgone earnings negatively affect girls' enrollment in Mali, while on the other hand, a positive link between forgone earnings to the family and the dropping out of their daughters indicates that 90% of the time, opportunity costs cause girls to quit school. B. EARLY MARRIAGE AND BRIDE PRICE IN GUINEA 3.10 For centuries, Guinea has, together with other Muslim/Sahelian countries, had the tradition of marrying daughters and sons off with great pride. Parents wish their daughters to be virgins at the time they are given to their husbands and this can best be assured by marrying them off while they are still young (12-16 years old). Many parents take great pride in their daughters' receiving high bride price. The wealth that the bride's parents receive from the groom or from his family is usually distributed among family members, including relatives, who later contribute gifts when the marriage takes place. However, in Forest Guinea, dowries may consist of no more than ten kola nuts. In some West African countries, however, there are situations where a girl becomes engaged to a boy from another family very early. Such fiances usually provide a lot for the family for 36 many years . School being perceived as a corrupting agent by many rural residents (Guinea, Mali, Benin etc.), schooling girls engaged at an early age might result in them rejecting theirfiance, which could cause a big social conflict. In countries like Benin, for instance, such fears cause some parents to keep girls out of school. 3. 11 Though some of the findings indicate that the dowry is the reason why many parents prefer and are eager to marry their daughters off early, this is not characteristic of the majority of parents. Yet, parents' fear of loss of virginity accounts for part of the problem since they try to avoid what they perceive to be the negative consequences of schooling for their daughters. Furthermore, in Guinea, Mali and The Gambia, parents are proud when their daughters succeed in school without departing from important cultural norms. 3.12 Early marriage, when it occurs, prevents some girls from having access to or continuing school, but, on the other hand, also results from those undesirable occurrences which in turn lead parents to try and find earlier a husband for their daughter37. In Mali, 35 Kourouma (1991). 36 CBRS (1988). Sow (1994).  32 50% of 195 rural parents surveyed marry their daughters off early particularly because of past undesirable experiences of other daughters--such as drop out and incidences of pregnancies out of wedlock and departure from the village. There are far too many cases where such girls have been made pregnant by their instructors. 3.13 The available data indicate that there is a cultural aspect behind such decisions since parents do not wish to be "humiliated" by a child out of wedlock. But there is also a rational attitude in it that translates in "if you send your daughter for nothing but greater financial stress and dishonor, better opt for what you believe to be honorable". Thus, early marriage is widespread in rural areas where enrollments are lower, drop outs are higher and parents are poorer and less educated. 3.14 Because of the relatively greater freedom that school allows girls as compared to home, school is perceived as a risky place for girls, a real threat to the family's honor. That explains why girls give up or are made to do so when long distances are involved. Such cases are true in both Mali and Guinea, for access as well as persistence in school. It is further documented that in some cases, parents try other alternatives to help daughter remain "safe". In Middle Guinea for instance, some parents reported an increased interest in infibulating girls to prevent loss of virginity and pregnancy, in part because of a desire to 38 help their daughters stay in school C. PARENTS' EDUCATION 3.15 In Guinea, like in most developing countries, most parents have had little or no schooling. In a sample of 100 parents, 60% of with non-schooled daughters are illiterate, 27% have some primary schooling, 5 percent had reached secondary level, 6 percent are literate in Arabic, and 2 percent received literacy through adult literacy programs39. The proportion of illiterate parents is the same among those with daughters who deserted school as among parents with non-schooled daughters. 3.16 Based on the existing data in Guinea, the lack of schooling among parents negatively affects girls' participation. It makes them less receptive and understanding of what is at stake. The availability of schooled individuals in the family or the community is important in parents' decision to let their children in general, and their daughters in particular, go to school. As found in most of the studies used in this report, families where at least one parent has received some schooling have their daughters in school. Throughout Guinea such families tend to value schooling more. Conversations with students and parents indicate that even a little supervision and assistance can make a difference in a child's attitude. Support from families such as doing a student's laundry, providing breakfast, or checking to see that homework was done--even when parents did 38Anderson-Levitt et al. (1994). Kourouma (1991), confirmed by Sow (1994).  33 not speak French--seemed to encourage girls and boys in their studies. Nevertheless, there is some indication that primary school boys receive more attention from fathers than primary school girls. 3.17 With regards to schooling tradition, regional variations were observed. Forest Guinea, which has a long tradition of Western schooling, associated with Christian missions, has relatively high girls' enrollments (see Table 1.1). On the other hand, Middle Guinea and Upper Guinea, which have a strong tradition of Coranic schooling have low girls' enrollments in public school. Schooling tradition may be a factor whose importance has been underestimated in the existing literature. In The Gambia, for instance, women in certain communities without school do not see education as important while those who live in communities which have schools think education is an important matter. D. EXPECTATIONS VERSUS REALITY 3.18 Stereotypes linked to the interpretation of religious and legislative principles regarding the place of the woman in the productive society constitute the basis for what some characterize as institutional discrimination since those mechanisms are interrelated and have mutually reinforcing effects. In Guinea, the effect of schooling tradition is manifested in role models. The lack of role models is a problem detected at both primary and secondary levels. The fewer females there are in a given sector, the less girls are likely to show interest for that particular sector. This is a major barrier in VET where there are even fewer females. The absence or scarcity of females who have succeeded through education, while still holding on to their religious, moral, and family values, negatively affect both girls' schooling and employment. It deprives young girls of positive references that could influence their choice of technical fields. Female teachers, the female fieldworkers of one of the studies, and the Minister of Pre-University Education, are cited by girls as examples to follow. The lack of role models appears to affect parents' decisions to enroll younger girls in The Gambia, Mali, Guinea etc. It also limits older girls in their selection of specialties later in Box 3-4: Teachers see girls as strangers in the classroom their schooling. As described in case studies in both an urban college and an 3.19 Although part of the urban primary school in two different regions of Guinea, both male and female instructors tend to view the girls as "aliens" data indicates that some in the classroom. After realizing he had been listening to girls parents prefer to send boys, for a while, a sixth grade instructor apologizes to boys saying rather than girls, to school, "don't get angry boys, I have not forgotten you" as if girls there is a stronger message in were not supposed to be listened to or were not expected to this attitude. Most parents' take the teacher's time asking and answering questions. expectations from thleir Urban primary school, Conakry, 199440 children's schooling is first 40 Anderson-Levitt etal. (1994).  34 and foremost material. 89% of parents expect their children to success and support their family4'. They expect the child to finish school or be successful otherwise, and become useful to the family later by supporting old parents and younger siblings. They are therefore happy whether it is a son or a daughter who succeeds and helps them (70% of parents think a daughter can help them as much as a son can42). Still, they tend to be convinced that their son is more likely to succeed in school than their daughter is and that the girls are destined to other things. 3.20 Male children are perceived, particularly by rural parents, as the symbol of success and courage, as well as leadership, while females are perceived as weak and needing protection. Thus, parents' expectations are such that boys are the ones who can take over for the father, hence those who need to, and can, succeed. Some Muslim parents seem to transfer the model from traditional Coranic schooling, in which girls are expected to leam prayers but boys could become scholars, to "French" schooling. Thus, many parents' expectations about what children should learn and how long they should persist in school are lower for girls than for boys. Among parents who believe a girl should study less than a boy for instance, 40% think secondary level is sufficient, and 40% think VET is enough for a girl43, which is consistent with the general bias against VET, deemed to be of inferior quality. 3.21 Although the aim of education for all is officially espoused, from a cultural perspective, education for boys is the right, but education for girls is a privilege which each girl has to justify by the correct conduct of her life. Rarely does a boy have to meet such stringent requirements in order to justify his education. As a result, girls' educational careers seem to present negative examples to parents and the public generally, no matter what path they take. If a girl completes her education, gets a professional or para-professional job, marries well to a husband chosen or at least approved by her parents, has children, looks after her parents and does not forget the traditional ways, her education is seen as worthwhile. Given the economic situation in Guinea and the socio-cultural constraints on girls, very few girls can ever hope to meet such a challenge. 41 Sow (1994). 42 Ibid. 43 Ibid.  35 3.22 Expectations such as described here are not true of all parents. Rural parents whose educational tradition is limited are also those who receive few, if any, positive message regarding what the use of school should be for children in general and for girls in particular. Based on the limited number of success cases they know, Box 3-5: What parents think school doe to parents tend to associate schooling with A doctoral student gathering data in Mali future income and tend to see a failure to received the following as a response to a question reach the highest levels of schooling, and asking "What does school do to girls that parents the highest salary levels, as failure. resent?": "Look at yourself, you are a Muslim, They do not know of the no monetary you are educated, you are married, you are even studying in the United States! Yet, you wear a benefits of schooling. For instance, 65% long dress and you have a scarf on your hair. I of surveyed parents think a degree is would rather my daughter be like you. I cannot more important for the girl while 34% stand it when I see girls wear those skirts think knowledge is more important for displaying their legs. We do not know that and her 44. There is also a stronger message can't tolerate it". behind this parental attitude. Since by A Malian fisherman in Mopti, 1993. this definition, parents will see more cases of failure than success, fear that their daughters will be "corrupt" by school become paramount. Sow (1994).  4. POLICIES AND STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE GIRLS' EDUCATION 4.1 The Government of Guinea published its current educational policy in its 1989 "Declaration of Educational Policy". The Government's commitment to the 1989 policy was reconfirmed in 1990 when it adopted the National Program for Education For All. This policy included an ambitious reduction in the illiteracy rate from 74% in 1990 to 37.5% in the year 2000. The policy was updated in a "Letter of Education Sector Development Policy" dated March 1995. The key objective was to increase gross primary school enrollment from 28% in 1989 to 70% in the year 2000. In 1995, this has been scaled back to a more manageable 53%. As of 1995, the Government was ahead of target, with gross primary enrollments at 44%. Special emphasis was placed on increasing access for girls and rural children: a specific target of the Declaration is to promote equity and mitigate the costs of adjustment on the poor by carrying out special programs for the education of seven year olds and girls, as well as by strengthening literacy and post literacy programs. The quality of teaching was to be improved by increasing the number of students in teacher training schools, improving the living conditions of teachers, improving pre- and in-service teacher training programs, and improving teaching materials and educational infrastructure. Other areas addressed by the current policy are: restructuring of the educational administration to improve efficiency, promotion of private education, and reorganization of the education budget according to the newly defined sector priorities. I. CURRENT POLICIES AND STRATEGIES IN FAVOR OF GIRLS' EDUCATION A. RECENT ACTIONS TAKEN BY THE GOVERNMENT 1. Increasing Awareness 4.2 The Government of Guinea has already initiated some actions, that were successful because carefully discussed with all stakeholders. The posting of female primary school teachers in the course of the reform implemented in 1992 (see para. 1.19) from Conakry to rural areas, sometimes at the opposite end of the country, is a good example. A similar success was the campaign led by MEPUFP's officials (from the Minister herself to the local officials) in regions where the religious leaders were strongly opposed to non Coranic schooling. Schools have now been created, at the leaders' request. A workshop has been organized in Conakry (March 1995) by the Government, to discuss the findings and proposals of a study on girls' schooling in rural areas (Sow, 1994): participants included people from the villages which took part in that study. USAID plans to finance a nation-wide campaign on girls' education, pending the findings of all studies, so that the messages are adapted to the country's realities and sensitivities.  37 Finally, this report has been analyzed, discussed and commended by the MEPUFP, notably its Commission on Equity, in December 1995. 2. Pregnancy Policy 4.3 Up until September 1992, the 1984 pregnancy policy stipulated that: (a) all unmarried girls who become pregnant while enrolled in school are expelled. If the father is a student, he also will be expelled. If the father is a teacher or employee of the educational system, he is put on leave for a period of one year; and (b) married girls who become pregnant must leave school for a period of ten months before re-enrolling. 4.4 However, the Government has decided since then that pregnant girls--married or not--can be suspended but are allowed to come back after giving birth. Moreover, in the case of an out of wedlock pregnancy, if the father is a teacher, he is fired. This policy change may result in fewer girls dropping out. Interviewed teachers and female students recognize that girls now feel free to return after child birth. They also mention, however, that for varying reasons, not all such girls return. Some girls come back to school after giving birth depending on the child care help that is available to them. Teachers also report that many girls choose not to return either for moral, financial or other reasons. Some teachers believe that providing assistance to young mothers would be perceived as a way of encouraging out-of-wedlock pregnancy. A follow-up study seeking the reasons why girls do not return would be useful. 3. Grade Repetition 4.5 An earlier study indicates that a 1988 policy regarding grade repetition had negative consequences especially for girls who were the initial target of the policy. The policy consisted in expelling students who accumulate more than three repetitions in primary school (grades I through 6). As this study reports 54% of parents surveyed thought this policy was the cause of their problems45. A more recent study46 indicates, however, that there is no limit in the number of repetitions in grades one through six. The director of a primary school in Conakry affirms that there is nothing indicating that students should be expelled after failing a given number of times. His school has no list of expelled students. "We do not expel anyone here. A time may come when the student decides to quit but we do not expel them." 4. Reducing Direct Costs of Schooling 4.6 The Government of Guinea has moved to reduce the financial burden of schooling on parents by providing tax relief to families whose children are enrolled. It is a positive move on the government's part but does not suffice for families too poor to do without 4'USAID/Tietjen (1992). 46Anderson-Levitt et al. ( 1994).  38 their daughters' assistance at home or too poor to afford the cost of school supplies (assuming there is a school within walking distance). This policy is based on the assumption that parents who do not have children in school are not just opposed to schooling itself, although the studies conducted in Guinea demonstrated that this could indeed be the case. In addition, the tax reduction process needs more effective control system since some parents (in Upper Guinea for instance) send their children to school during the tax season only to withdraw them later in the school year. Finally, the uniform is not anymore compulsory for pupils in rural areas. 5. School Availability 4.7 Girls are more likely to stay in school when schools, especially complete schools, are located nearby. The eight rural primary schools studied by Anderson-Levitt et al. (1994) averaged 200 children per school (ranging from 92 to 370 children). Their average female enrollment was 52, about 26% of total enrollment as compared with a national average of 21.5% for rural primaries. While the three urban schools had multiple classes at each of the grade levels (1 through 6), only three of the eight rural schools had even one class at each of the grade levels. Schools had one teacher per class, but some of the rural school teachers taught unofficial "multigrade classes" (without specific training) when other 47 teachers were absent for one day or longer 4.8 Therefore, the recent emphasis on building schools is a critical first step. School mapping (Carte scolaire) which consists of strategic placement of schools, particularly in rural areas without school, is widely practiced within the MEPUFP and will help alleviate the problem. Incentives are also provided to instructors to encourage them to teach in rural areas, and the Minister has been encouraging a decentralized hiring process which guarantees unemployed teachers jobs while providing rural areas teachers. These three programs all have positive effects and should be maintained. Pre-schools, though not widespread, also exist and have the positive effect of preparing children for primary school but only a minority benefits from it. B. DONORS' AND NGOs' PROGRANMS 4.9 UNICEF has been exploring options that in the long run would have a positive impact on girls' education or women's emancipation in Guinea. All of its programs center on an awareness of the girl and the realities of her life. It has developed, for instance a grassroots social marketing video and play for areas with no video facilities. UNICEF has also developed a literacy model and materials based on the life of a fictitious young girl "The Story of Fatoumata". This provides a reading resource which will be available to schools and literacy programs throughout the country. UNDP also supplements UNESCO's efforts through radio programming. It would be helpful for the Guinean Government to evaluate the impact of these efforts so as to identify what to 47 Anderson-Levitt et al. (1994).  39 pursue and with which population. Such efforts are crucial in that the lack of awareness, among parents, of the girl's plight constitutes a big hindrance in trying to change attitudes regarding her schooling. They are also important given the probable time which will lapse before Guinea will reach Universal Primary Education. 4.10 Encouraging efforts are also made by Aide et Action (Help and Action), a French NGO concentrating on self-help, grassroots development programs. Aide et Action is pursuing community school construction projects and appropriate technology projects such as wells and mechanical mills to help free children, particularly girls, from onerous household tasks and thus enable them to attend school. Projects of this type should be encouraged --accessible, time-saving technology may be one of the most effective ways to relieve girls of their burdensome, time-consuming responsibilities at home and give them more time to study. II. RECOMMENDED NEXT STEPS 4.11 The Government is currently initiating the second phase of a multidonor financed program for the period 1995-2000 (PASE II). The program includes support for primary and lower secondary. Its objectives are to: (a) increase primary school enrollment and completion rates, with a strong focus on girls and students in rural areas; (b) improve teaching and student learning in primary, lower secondary and VET schools; and (c) strengthen education system management. To implement this program, Guinea is supported by IDA and several other donors. The steps listed below will or could be addressed by this program. Attention should be drawn, however, to the fact that in Guinea, measures are not sufficiently made known to the public they target. A. GIRLs' ACCESS TO GENERAL EDUCATION 4.12 4.1 details short term measures that can be taken and implemented rapidly by the MEPUFP to alleviate household constraints, although some of the actions will only have an impact only in the medium and long terms. 4.13 Table 4.2 details short term measures that can be taken and implemented rapidly by the MEPUFP and donors to Guinea education in order to alleviate school constraints. In all schools, the daily cleaning jobs, including sweeping and erasing the board, should be assigned to all students, boys and girls, if it has to be done by students. This may require strict enforcement by teachers against boys' resistance, but teachers may be successful in using such conflicts to raise the consciousness of both boys and girls about inequity. Moreover, the policy that students not be pulled from class to perform work should be enforced. Neither ordinary chores nor punishments should remove students from on-going instruction. Teachers should be prohibited from collecting miscellaneous fees and from demanding field labor. Although some findings suggest a more practical curriculum better suited to rural schools, observations of housekeeping tasks strongly  40 suggest that a stereotyped "feminine" curricultum must be avoided. Girls do not need to come to school to learn to sweep or to perform other tasks they already practice at home. Table 4.1: Summary of investigated household factors and suggestions Constraints Actions Responsibilities 1. High direct cost of schooling Textbooks Provide initial textbook stock for MEPUFPIIDA rental to ensure replenishment. Household labor and additional Allow modification /adaptation of MEPUFP: I-Ask communities, income generating activities school schedule and academic via DPEs or workshop, about the calendar to make it more best calendar. 2-Give instructions compatible with family/agro- to all DPEs school directors and pastoral activities, particularly in staff. 3-Use Program for School rural areas. Level Initiatives facility under IDA Credit 2. Socio-cultural factors Parents' attitudes. Belief that Social marketing Government and teachers boys do better in school; that girls Deployment of female teachers Government and teachers are less gifted; that school and other female employees in corrupts girls with regard to rural areas to serve as role cultural values models. Marriage: early marriage; fear Enforce laws against unwanted Government, MEPUFP, officials, that schooled girl will not marry and early marriages--make it school staff, APEAEs in village unlawful to remove a girl from school to marry her off before ninth grade. Pregnancy Start an acceptable form of sex MEPUFP: instruction to all education that parents will DPEs, school directors and appreciate. Enforce policy APEAEs abolishing expulsion more (for instance, let girls who become pregnant know what their options are).  41 Table 4.2: Summary of investigated school factors and suggestions Constraints Actions Responsibilities Incomplete school infrastructure School construction program MEPUFPfIDAIFEDIJapan and remoteness of existing schools designed to "complete" schools, from area of residence. and expand infrastructure-latrines are to be built in all new or renovated schools. Build latrines, make them MEPUFPIIDAIFED/Japan, separate--male/female, far from Instruction to DPEs and school each other, and n.= reserved to directions teachers alone. Expand multigrade classrooms. MEPUFPIIDA. Janitorial Services Make both girls and boys perform MEPUFP: instruction to all DPEs (Cleaning and in around all the housekeeping duties that the and school directors class/school) school needs from students, and NEVER during teaching hours. Miscellaneous fees levied by Make it unlawful for teachers to MEPUFP: instruction to all DPEs teachers and school directors on levy fees on students. and school directors, staff and students APEAEs Provide seats and tables. MEPUFPIIDAIFED/Japan Inform parents of all legal fees to MEPUFP/APEAEs be levied during the school year and encourage APEAEs to report additional requests to the DPE. Teacher's sexual abuse/harassment Set strong policy guidelines MEPUFP: instruction to all forbidding teacher relationships DPEs, school directors, teachers, with students and disseminate the and APEAEs information to all teachers, students and parents. Examples of sanction could be suspension for 6 months without pay for harassing a student. Teacher-student interaction in Improve (or create) pre- and in- MEPUFP/France class. service teacher training in this specific issue. Let both male and female teachers know of things that can be psychologically negative to girls. Male peer harassment in class Improve (or create) pre-and in- MEPUFP/France service teacher training in this specific issue. Student labor for teacher Forbid anv form of student MEPUFP: instruction to all DPEs exploitation by teachers; informn school directors, teachers, and parents of this. No work in field APEAEs or errands during class sessions. Note: Donors are associated with MEPUFP according to their current fields of intervention, not their explicit commitments for PASE 11.  42 B. GIRLS' ACCESS TO VET 4.14 Given the importance of employment perspectives in the decision to send a girl to school and the inequity of access to VET, girls' participation needs to be specifically and vigorously addressed while this sector is being revamped with the support of IDA, Canada (African women, Sciences and Technologies, FAST, pilot-program) and Germany within PASE II. The implementation of the following measures should be a priority in order to achieve greater gender equity in VET as a complement of the FAST program, designed to increase female demand for VET. The implementation of the recommended strategies should be by stage so as to acquire the collaboration of all concerned parties. 4.15 Improve Information and Access. Revise the admission process with regard to access to VET. Set up student advisory systems so as to provide students and their families valuable information about both vocational education centers and the needs of the private sector. Awaken students' curiosity through debates, informational sessions on the various career options available from individual job sectors in general and in the non-traditional sector in particular. 4.16 Determine Realistic and Reasonable Quantitative Objectives for Girls' Participation. For instance, for each vocational and technical school set a goal of admitting at least 10% female students per year and reward the institution with some maintenance fund. The use of financial incentives, perhaps in the form of scholarships, to encourage girls who choose vocational and non traditional fields, should be further explored and discussed with potential donors. 4.17 Open Programs more Specific to Girls and Addressing the Needs of the Labor Market. Before gender stereotypes change, this would be a short cut to improve girls' participation in VET. These fields could be: . Teaching * Health occupations (nurses, midwives) * Textile: dying, cutting/ sawing weaving, and other related tasks; * Food industry: food conservation, fruit and vegetable dehydration; . Restaurant oriented training in order to improve the quality of the restaurant business booming all over the country; Tourism: there is a "Hotel" school which could be even more important given the country's new openness to this activity which can be very lucrative; and * Salon business.  43 III. IMPROVEMENTS TO BE REACHED IN THE MEDIUM TERM: CLASSROOM INTERACTION A. SCHOOL FACTORS 4.18 The studies conducted in Guinea demonstrated the importance of improving classroom interaction patterns in order to improve girls' persistence in school. The observations and interviews provided a variety of potential models. The MEPUFP should continue to encourage Guinean teachers to experiment with teaching styles that engage as many children as possible, for these are the techniques that will engage the most girls. There is never "one right method" that works for every teacher, for every grade level, or for every subject matter. That is why teachers must experiment for themselves. However, some teachers observed used certain methods that other teachers might consider as promising models. 4.19 As shown by classroom observations, varied strategies were used to engage the participation of all students. Teachers can learn more about those in their in-service trainings or workshops and find out later to which approaches their students are more responsive. Such strategies include moving up and down the rows. Teachers who prefer the element of surprise by calling on every fourth or fifth child in the roll book or otherwise randomizing the sequence by which children participate. Some teachers successfully encouraged a hesitant student to perform well simply by saying, "Leave her alone and let her answer" to the rest of the class. Group work has potential for getting all students involved, but teachers need to experiment with forms of organization that get girls more than peripherally involved. All-girl lab groups have been suggested in a different context . Teachers could try putting all the girls in one group instead of dispersing them evenly. However, sex segregation may have drawbacks, such as the stigmatizing of the girls' group.49 Still, classroom observations in Guinea suggest that working in all-girl groups or classrooms would give girls opportunities to exercise academic leadership which they rarely enjoy now. 4.20 Although a number of teachers recommended all girls' schools, one hesitates to endorse that recommendation because they are very expensive to build and staff in rural areas and because they risk many unintended consequences, such as has qualified teachers or materials. Also, in boarding schools parents would expect the Government to take on the expensive and frustrating task of "protecting girls' honor". The MEPUFP might discuss the possibility of experimenting with all-girl classes in large urban schools, specifically at the secondary level. If such an experiment were undertaken, it would be Duplessis (1991). 9 Also, McCaslin, Tuck et al. (1994) noted certain positive effects of mixed-gender groups for pre- adolescents, at least in the United States.  44 important to monitor negative as well as positive consequences over the course of several years. 4.21 In whatever setting teachers learn about gender equity, they also need to learn techniques to curb boys' intimidating behaviors--which should be addressed at the societal level as well if possible. As suggested above, advocating equal treatment of boys at home as well as at school might have a long term impact through the communities. With more commitment from all sides, it is feasible. For example, when the boys in one classroom teased a classmate that he "talked like a woman", their (male) teacher, instead of laughing along with them, said very simply, "That's not your problem". 4.22 A last point to make here regards teacher absenteeism. Though its effect on female students was not measured, useful comments have been picked up through data collection which indicate that it is important. Female students, in need of role models, witness how often teachers and especially female teachers are absent. They get gradually demotivated because they are advised to return home and do chores when the teacher is absent. There needs to be regulations to guarantee accountability among teachers. When there are sanctions such as reducing salary based on the number of days missed or having to make up for the wasted time, it is more likely that such things will change. B. VET AND EMPLOYMENT 4.23 To foster women's participation in VET, the business environment will need to be modified, for instance by encouraging new forms of labor organization (associations, co- ops, and the like) which can lead to the creation of small private business organizations more responsive to women's employment. 4.24 The sustainability of female participation in VET also relies on keeping the female manpower in the vocational jobs for which they have received training. This means that females who received training in a vocation and technical field should be allowed to do the kind of the work for which they have been trained without a superior, based solely on prejudice or other personal bias, trying to assign them "more feminine" jobs. The public sector could set the pattern in hiring more female manpower and be the leader in this regard. IV. ADDRESSING SOCIO-CULTURAL BARRIERS IN THE LONG TERM A. GENDER STEREOTYPES 4.25 Whether in current teacher education or by other means, Guinea has already conveyed the importance of girls' education to teachers, many of whom have made an effort to involve girls in lessons and to encourage them to stay in school. Now teachers and student teachers need to become conscious of gender stereotypes and their effect on girls' performance and persistence. Since classroom behavior is jointly constructed by  45 family, students and teachers, such changes will require new teaching techniques. Teachers need to be made aware of gender stereotypes in textbooks, particularly in the older manuals that many teachers still use. The MEPUFP is preparing, with USAID's assistance, new textbooks that will be more gender neutral. 4.26 The MEPUFP should be commended for actively recruiting female teachers and for sending more of them to rural areas. More is still needed and, since female teachers do not automatically teach with less gender bias than male teachers, they should not be exempted from in-service programns to raise teachers' consciousness about gender equity. B. ROLE MODELS AND WOMEN'S LITERACY 4.27 In Guinea, as in The Gambia, Mali and other developing countries, lack of role models for girls is a big handicap. Providing more female teachers and other female workers in those areas that need it may have a positive impact. Parents' and students' interest in visiting fieldworkers as role models suggests that the campaigns recently launched by the MEPUFP to encourage rural girls' schooling should have an impact. As put by some parents, even hearing of a few good role models encourages parents to send daughters to school. 4.28 Adult literacy programs that emphasize women's participation as well as men's could satisfy the desire of school leavers to resume their education or at least not to fall back into illiteracy. Programs could also include sex education (family planning), so that more women and men gain access to the methods and attitudes that iower fertility and lower child mortality. Adult literacy for men and women should also increase parents' ability to help their children with studies and encourage their daughters to study in school. C. PREGNANCY AND MARRIAGE 4.29 The policy permitting girls to return to school after pregnancy or marriage should be made known to its beneficiaries, and its rationale explained. Many girls would take advantage of it and therefore gain additional years of schooling. Some thoughtful village leaders pointed out drawbacks to the policy, namely that it might reduce the incentive for abstinence. However, the positive effects of the new policy appear to outweigh potential negative effects, and there are other ways available for addressing these concerns, like the enforcement of sanctions against sexual abuse by teachers. 4.30 Many teachers and some girls emphasize the great need for sex education in schools. But they are mentioning only girls, whereas boys need it also. It should begin in the fourth grade, although before launching it, the MEPUFP should investigate whether parents will try to block the participation of uninitiated children. Midwives and nurses from local health clinics might be available to offer lectures, at least in urban areas as a beginning, thus relieving the burden on teachers. The curriculum should include  46 discussion of excision and infibulation. Perhaps such discussion can be part of the "social-education" when set in motion. 4.31 The MEPUFP should also open a discussion of whether teachers ought to marry young women who are students in the school where they teach. For girls' sake, not to mention the sake of school-community relations, the Ministry must find workable ways to stop teachers and administrators from propositioning their students, including dismissing teachers when grades or punishments are used to pressure the girls. Forbidding the practice and punishing the offenders will probably not suffice, however. The attitude that such relations are normal must simultaneously be challenged as a central part of in-service training against gender stereotypes. Whatever the measures taken, they need to be disseminated so all concerned parties are informed of their rights and limits.  CONCLUSION 1. This was the first nation-wide study of girls' education of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa. The study led to a number of surprises: attitudes toward girls' schooling are remarkably stable across regions, across ethnic and religious groups, and even between male and female teachers. On the other hand, most of the teachers, administrators and male students seem oblivious to the enormous prejudices and stereotypes female students encounter. Girls' descriptions of what happens inside the classroom and around the school differ so much from boys' descriptions that if read separately, one would assume they were not only in different schools, but in different worlds. The girls and their parents seem to be virtually without support in their quest to provide an education that respects family mores while ensuring access to learning. 2. Classroom factors have been demonstrated to be key determinants of girls' success in school, adding to the obstacles they face and often tipping the scales in the wrong direction. Solutions vary from simple memorandums to be disseminated and enforced throughout the schools and communities, to serious policy reforms calling for medium- as well as long-term actions. In either case, it is crucial that regulations be implemented, enforced, monitored, and evaluated with the population targeted to guarantee their success.  Annex 1 Page 1 of 1 REPUBLIC OF GUINEA BASIC DATA Total Area (thousands of square kilometers) ....................................... 246 Per Capita GNP ....................................... US$537 Total Population (millions) (1995) ....................................... 7.1 Urban Population as % of Total Population. 27.3% Average Annual Population Growth Rate (1987-92). 2.8% Life Expectancy (years) .44 Infant Mortality (per thousand live births) .133.2 Fertility Rate .6.5 Crude Birth Rate (per thousand) .49 Crude Death Rate (per thousand) .21 Age Structure of Population (% of total) 0-14 years. 46.7% 15-64 years. 50.7% Total Adult Illiteracy Rate .76% Female Adult Illiteracy Rate .87% Gross Enrollment Rate Primary (1994) .43% Secondary (1993) .10% Female Participation (as percentage of total enrollment) Primary .32.8% General Secondary .23.7% Vocational Training Centers .1.7% Tertiary .6.0% Pupil/Teacher Ratio Primary .49 Secondary .19 Tertiary .10 Transition Rate (primary to secondary). 62.3% Primary Repetition Rates Total .18% Female .22.5% Secondary Repetition Rates Total. 22.5% Female .24.3% Sources: The World Bank, World Development Report 1993: Investing in Health. The World Bank, Social Indicators of Development, 1994. Ministry of Pre-University Education and Vocational Training, Conakry, Guinea, Annuaire statistique, 1991-1992, 1992-1993, 1993-1994.  Annex 2 'p~ LABOR Page 1 of I LMARKET DES UNIVERSITY 5-7 YEARS _~ LABOR S I MARKET E BTS H C 3 | I 0 BAC2 26 G N 1jre H D w,.! m-,--4s E A _ _ _ _ _ R R Y LABOR _MARKET E CAP C 3e . 0 0 BEPC [2I Legend W N |lre:. E D Drop out R A _ __ __ R - VET General education CEPE R A R Y  Annex 3 Page 1 of 3 REFERENCES Anderson-Levitt, Katie, Bloch, Marianne, and Soumare Maiga, Aminata. 1994. Inside Classrooms in Guinea: Girls' Experiences. Conakry: Republique de Guinie, Ministere de I'Enseignement Pre-Universitaire et de la Formation Professionnelle. Biraimah, Karen Coffyn. 1980. The Impact of Western Schools on Girls' Expectations: A Togolese case. Comparative Education Review 24(2,pt.2):S 196-S208. _ 1987. Class, Gender, and Life Chances: A Nigerian University Case Study. 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Etude sur les causes majeures d'abandon scolaire chez lesjeunesfilles dans laprovince du Mono. Cotonou. Cole, M. and Means, B. 1981. Comparative Studies on How People Think. Cambridge, Mass: Harvard University Press. Cogne, Yvette. 1994. La participation des jeunes filles dans 1'enseignement professionnel en Guinee. Conakry: Republique de Guinee, Ministere de I'Enseignement Pre-Universitaire et de la Formation Professionnelle. Davison, Jean, and Kanyuka, Martin. 1992. Girls' Participation in Basic Education in Southern Malawi. Comparative Education Review 36(4):446-466. Duru-Bellat, Marie. 1990. L'ecole desfilles. Paris: L'Harmattan. Glick, Peter and Sahn, David E. 1992. Labor Force Participation, Sector of Employment and Earnings in Conakry, Guinea. Draft Report. Cornell University, Cornell Food and Nutrition Policy Program.  Annex 3 Page 2 of 3 Herz, Barbara, K. Subbarao, Masooma Habib, and Laura Raney. 1991. Letting Girls Learn: Promising Approaches in Primary and Secondary Education. World Bank Discussion Papers, no. 133. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank. Jarousse, Jean-Pierre, and Alain Mingat. 1993. Les effets des conditions sur les acquisitions des eleves a lhcole primaire: Le cas du Togo. Report of a study financed by the World Bank and the French Ministry of Cooperation. Washington, DC: The World Bank. Kane, Eileen. 1993. Bitter Seeds: Girls' Participation in Primary Education in The Gambia. King, E. M. and Hill, M. A. 1993. Women's Education in Developing Countries. Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press. Kourouma, Passy. 1991. Etude portant sur les aspects socio-culturels et socio-economiques de la scolarisation des filles au niveau du primaire: cas de la Guinee. Conakry: Ministere de l'Education Nationale, Secretariat d'Etat a l'Enseignement Pre-Universitaire. Lave, J. 1988. Cognition in Practice: Mind, Mathematics and Culture in Everyday Life. New York: Cambridge University Press. Lee, V. E. and Lockheed, M. E. 1990. The Effects of Single-Sex Schooling on Student Achievement and Attitudes in Nigeria. Comparative Education Review, 34(2), 209-232. Lockheed, M. and Verspoor, A.M. 1991. Improving Primary Education in Developing Countries. Oxford University Press. Long, Lynellyn D., with Hawah Fofanah. 1990. Study of Girls' Access to Primary Schooling in Guinea. Report prepared for USAID/Guinea. McCaslin, Mary, Dorothy Tuck, Amy Wiard, Barbara Brown, Jenness LaPage, Joyce Pyle. 1994. Gender Composition and Small-Group Leaming in Fourth-Grade Mathematics. Elementary School Journal 94(5):467-482. McSweeney, Brenda Gael, and Marion Freedman. 1980. Lack of Time as an Obstacle to Women's Education: The Case of Upper Volta. Comparative Education Review 24(2,pt.2):S124-S139. Ministry of Pre-University Education and Vocational Training. 1992-93. Annuaire Statistique. Conakry: Service Statistique et Planification, MEPUFP. Moran, Mary. 1990. "Civilized Women": Gender and Prestige in Southeastem Liberia. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Peshkin, Alan. 1972. Kanuri Schoolchildren: Education and Social Mobilization in Nigeria. Holt, Rinehart & Winston. Philips, Susan U. 1972. Participant Structures and Communicative Competence: Warm Springs Children in Community and Classroom. In C. B. Cazden, V. P. Johns, and D. Hymes,  Annex 3 Page 3 of 3 Eds. Functions of Language in the Classroom (pp. 370-394). New York: Teachers College Press. Sadker, Myra, and David Sadker. 1994. Failing at Fairness: How America's Schools Cheat Girls. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. Schuster, Ilsa M. Glazer. 1979. New Women of Lusaka. Mountain View, CA: Mayfield Publishing Co. Serpell, Robert. 1993. The Significance of Schooling: Life-Journeys in an African Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Soumare, Aminata Maiga. 1994. Factors That Affect Girls' Access to and Retention in School in Mali, 1965-1993. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, School of Education, University of Illinois-Urbana/Champaign. Sow, Alhassane. 1994. Enquete sur la scolarisation des filles en milieu rural: Rapport de synthese. Conakry: Republique de Guinee, Ministere de l'Enseignement Pre- Universitaire et de la Formation Professionnelle. Tietjen, Karen. 1991. Educating Girls: Strategies to Increase Access, Persistence, and Achievement. ABEL Project. Washington, DC: U.S. Agency for International Development. Van Belle-Prouty, Diane. 1991. From the Outside Looking In: Women and Education in Francophone Central Africa. Unpublished Ph.D. Dissertation, Dept. of Teacher Education, Michigan State University. Wagner, D. A. 1993. Literacy, Culture, and Development: Becoming Literate in Morocco. New York: Cambridge University Press. Wilkinson, L. C., and C. B. Marrett, Eds. 1985. Gender Influences in Classroom Interaction. Academic. World Bank. 1993. World Bank Development Report. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank/Oxford University Press. World Bank. 1994. Draft report # 1313 1-TG: Togo, Scolarisation et scolarite des filles dans 1 'enseignementprimaire. Washington, D.C.: The World Bank. World Bank. 1995. The incidence of public expenditures on health and education in Guinea, 1994. (Draft Background work for the Guinea Public Expenditure Review).  Annex 4 Page 1 of 7 METHODOLOGY 1. The field survey of girls' schooling and the classroom observation study were both conducted nation-wide and included varied methods of beneficiary consultation. The sampling of rural communities for the field survey was reduced for the classroom observation, but included urban areas and kept the regional balance, together with the knowledge of the language by the Guinean researchers. As mentioned in the Introduction, the Guinea researchers for the second study were selected from the researchers for the first study, thus ensuring a continuity, notably with the rural commnunities that took part in the field survey. An interesting feature is that in their selection based on independent criteria for researchers (language, male/female etc.) the American-based research directors ended up by selecting the ten "best" identified by Sow. A. GIRLs' SCHOOLING IN RURAL AREAS: A FIELD SURVEY 2. The field survey was the first one to be conducted in Guinea on a nation-wide scale to study girls' schooling. It was based on detailed terms of reference designed by the World Bank with help from USAID and the MEPUFP's committee on girls' education. The main thrust was to learn what the stakeholders think of the issue and the crucial points in their decision to school girls and/or encourage them in school, together with what they thought were realistic solutions. 1. Sampling 3. It was expected, at the time of design of the studies, that there would be significant regional differences in termns of attitudes and determinants of girls' schooling. This ultimately proved not to be the case, but in order to ensure regional balance, eight prefectures were selected on the basis of their relative low girls' enrollment and of ethnic diversity. Two prefectures per natural region were selected: Dubreka, Forecariah, Gaoual, Mali, Kankan, Dabola, Macenta and Lola. With the same criteria, two sous- prefectures were selected per prefecture, and two villages with a school per sous- prefecture. 2. Research Instruments and Methods 4. Focus group discussions were conducted in the villages with: female pupils, male pupils, parents of school children (mother and father separately), non-schooled children's parents (mother and father separately); individual interviews were held with imams and other community leaders. Two questionnaires were administered to teachers (a total of 80 teachers) and 15 to 20 households (adults) per village ( a total of 545 households). Two guides were used to record village and school characteristics. All these research instruments were tested before the survey.  Annex 4 Page 2 of 7 5. Data collection in the field was conducted by eight teams of four researchers, each team with at least one female member; each team worked in one prefecture. All discussions and interviews were conducted in the local language. Each team stayed in the village for a week, on the basis of a pre-established schedule. Whenever needed, the researchers even went to the fields to talk with parents. Researchers also took notes during all activities. The MEPUFP and its regional and sub-regional officials generally had time to inform villagers in advance of the survey. Therefore, the only real problem met was that in one prefecture they were mistaken for rural credit Bank agents coming to recover over-due payments... 6. The field researchers were selected based on the following criteria: (a) higher education diploma; (b) field survey experience; (c) native speaker of at least two languages of the areas selected for the survey; and (d) successful completion of the tests of the training session. The teams were forned on the basis of language, and the gender criterion. The ten field researchers were selected on the basis of educational and work background, performance during training, and experience and knowledge of regions and languages. In two weeks of training conducted by the three senior researchers, they learned some basics of anthropological and qualitative observation methodologies. During the training, the field researchers were given handbooks detailing schedules, methods for classroom observations, and guides for semi-structured interviews. B. INSIDE CLASSROOMS IN GUINEA: GIRLS' EXPERIENCES 7. The study was designed to develop a qualitative description of life in a variety of public schools throughout Guinea. Research took place from February through May of 1994, in two phases. Phase 1 involved research in 17 schools-- 1I primary schools and 6 colleges--in all five regions of the country: Conakry (referred to in Table A. I as Region 1 or "RI"), Lower Guinea, Middle Guinea, Upper Guinea, and the Forest Region. Ten Guinean field researchers were divided into five male/female research teams, and each team worked in one of the regions, where they visited three to four schools for one week per school after a thorough training. In Phase 2, the three senior researchers, accompanied by three of the Guinean field researchers, retumed to four of the original Phase 1 schools to conduct 2- to 3-week case studies in order to deepen the researchers' knowledge of at least one school in most regions. 1. Sample Schools 8. Sample Selection--Phase 1. The 17 schools were selected in consultation with the Ministry of Pre-University Education's Office of Statistics and Planning to maximize regional and urban-rural diversity. Because of the need to observe girls in classrooms, schools with an extremely low enrollment of girls at all grade levels were ruled out. The 17 schools included at least two primarv schools and one college per region. Three urban primary schools (two of them in Conakry) and three urban colleges (again, two of them in Conakry) were included. However, because of the predominance of rural schools in Guinea, the sample was balanced with eight rural primary schools and two rural colleges.  Annex 4 Page 3 of 7 9. Sample Selection--Phase 2. Choosing among the 17 schools studied in Phase 1, one urban primary school in Conakry, one urban college in Upper Guinea, one rural primary school in Middle Guinea, and one rural college in the Forest region for case studies were selected; specific criteria for school selection are discussed in reports of each case study. Although time prevented a fifth case study in Lower Guinea, regions that were included were selected to best match senior researchers' background knowledge of the regions, cultural or ethnic groups, and/or local language. 10. Characteristics of the Sample Schools. Table A.1 below presents characteristics of the 17 sanple schools. The three urban primary schools (identified with a "U" in Table A.1, as in "P1-U") averaged 1527 children per school, with the smallest being 934 and the largest, 2225 children. Average female enrollment was 661, that is, 43% of total enrollment, compared to a national average of 49.3% for urban primary schools. The urban primary schools had 15-34 different classes (groupes pedagogiques), often with children taught in "double sessions" (one group from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. and one from group 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.). There were 15 to 36 different teachers in the three schools, and 4 to 21 of them (54%) were female (Table A-1, right-hand column). In contrast, the eight rural primary schools (identified with and "R" in Table A.1) averaged 200 children per school (ranging from 92 to 370 children). Their average female enrollment was 52, about 26% of total enrollment as compared with a national average of 21.5% for rural primaries. While all of the urban schools had multiple classes at each of the grade levels (1 through 6), only three of the eight rural schools had even one class at each of the grade levels. Schools had one teacher per class, although some of the rural school teachers taught unofficial "multigrade classes" when other teachers were absent for one day or longer. Only one of the eight primary schools had female teachers. Across urban and rural primaries, class size varied; first grades ranged from 38 children to 92, sixth grades from 17 to 78 children. 11. The four urban colleges had an average enrollment of 964 students with 271 or 28% female enrollment (Table A. 1 of this annex). There were 7 to 14 classrooms, and each urban college had at least one class at each of the seventh through tenth grade levels. There were from 11 to 43 different instructors in the urban colleges, among them from 2 to 18 female teachers. The two colleges in Conakry were the largest (each over 1300 students), and had the largest number of teachers and the largest number of female teachers. The two rural colleges had average enrollment of 186 with an average of 24 girls (13% female enrollment). One of them lacked a tenth grade, while the other had a complete set of grades. There were 7 and 8 instructors at the two schools, none of them female. Whereas there were "only" 47 seventh graders in one of the rural colleges, a large urban school had 541 seventh graders (in multiple classes). Similarly, tenth grade varied from 22 students in one rural school to 336 in an urban college. 12. Comparison with national data. Because statistical reports do not separate urban from rural colleges, a meaningful comparison of the sample with nation-wide colleges cannot be offered. However, one can compare the sample of urban primary schools with urban primary schools across Guinea. The sample of urban primary schools appears to be  Annex 4 Page 4 of 7 biased toward larger schools, which may be explained by the fact that two of the three urban schools were in Conakry. There are 471 urban primary schools in Guinea with 338,601 students, or an average of 719 students per school--compared to 1,527 in the sample. There are also 3,204 classrooms in urban primary schools with approximately 105 students using each classroom (some being double session schools)--compared to class sizes in the sample ranging from 53 to 94. On the other hand, the fact that 54% of the urban primary teachers were women is comparable to the national picture, where 49.3% of the urban corps are women. 13. Guinea has 2,214 rural primary schools with 83,268 students. According to these figures, Guinea's rural schools had an average enrollment of 38 children. As there were 6,068 rural primary school classrooms, there were an average of 14 students per class (varying across the grade levels, with more in the lower grades). Although the eight rural primary schools in the sample were significantly smaller than the three urban schools, the average enrollment of 200 children in the rural primaries schools suggests that the sample was biased toward larger schools in rural as well as urban areas. In the rural case, the bias may be partly explained by the fact that schools were with at least a few girls in every class. The small proportion of female teachers in the sample of rural primary schools conformed to the national pattern. 14. In summary, comparisons of national and sample data suggest that Phase 1 urban and rural primary schools had larger total and female enrollments than the average urban or rural primary school in Guinea. As schools were included to maximize the chance of comparison between lower and upper grades, and to examine female persistence, very small schools with few grade levels or very few females may have been eliminated from the sample. 2. Research Design 15. Phase 1. In each primary school in their region, the field workers observed first- and sixth-grade classrooms (one classroom per grade), and in each college, seventh- and tenth-grade math and French classes. If a school did not have classes at a particular grade level, or if a given school had less than two girls in the grade level (e.g., no girls in sixth grade), observers were asked to choose the next grade to study (e.g., second, fifth, ninth). Observers stayed in a given class or grade level for one week of observation, switching with their fellow researcher for one half-day to guard against observer bias. Table A. 1 indicates the numbers of students observed in each class. 16. Interviews with students and teachers covered a broad range of questions focusing on student and teacher attitudes and expectations. Small group interviews were done with first-grade children, while individual interviews were done with children at other grades. The fieldworkers interviewed two groups of four first-grade girls and two groups of four first-grade boys (four children per group); where no first grade existed, second graders were observed and interviewed. At the sixth-grade level (or fourth or fifth grade, when necessary), interviews were done with 14 children (seven boys, seven girls). Interviews  Annex 4 Page 5 of 7 were done with 28 children at both the seventh- and the tenth-grade levels. In general, the female team member interviewed female students and the male team member male students. Observers were also asked to collect student grades (reading, math, overall average, and class rank) for the first trimester of the school year (October, 1993- December, 1993). 17. During their day-long classroom observations, fieldworkers recorded descriptions of different aspects of classroom life for boys and girls in written narrative observations. In the course of their observations, the researchers were asked to spend a minimum of five ten-minute periods writing "scenarios," script-like notes that captured as much teacher-student interaction as possible verbatim. As "general observations", field researchers were asked to draw classroom maps (seating charts), observe physical aspects of the school and classroom, describe curriculum schedules and activities, and note teacher and peer group interaction inside and outside the classroom. 18. Phase 2. Phase 2 research used an anthropological framework that focused attention on schools and classrooms as "cultural communities". The researchers continued classroom observation, videotaped classroom interaction when possible, and conducted formal and informal interviews with: 1) female and male students, 2) administrators and teachers, 3) female and male adult community members, 4) parent association representatives, 5) a small sample of school leavers, and 6) children who never attended school. C. FEMALE PARTICIPATION IN VET 19. 132 interviews were conducted throughout the country. The interviews followed specific outlines, depending on who was interviewed. 1. Female Students * Their schooling from the beginning up to their enrollment in VET. How and why are they enrolled in that program, in this subject. * Do they know women working in this sector? * Family context: parents', siblings' and family neighborhood's attitudes vis-a-vis their professional choice. Reactions, pro or con. Support, constraints. * School environment: [girls'] relationship with teachers, with male students, with other girls, with friends (what friends? Boys or girls or both?) * Work environment: what do they know [what information do they have] with regards to the job market of their sector?  Annex 4 Page 6 of 7 2. Within VET Institutions * Have you had/do you have female students in your institution? * What is your personal view/opinion of that? * What [do you think] would be employers' attitude/reaction towards female manpower in this sector? * What [would you say] is the attitude of teachers (male/female teachers?) towards female students in this institution? * [How would you describe] the attitude of male students towards female students in this institution? In the various divisions/areas of specialization? * What kind of assistance is needed to help girls establish themselves in this institution and on the job market? * What is the condition of the health training schools? 3. Within businesses-private sector * Do you employ any females in this business * What kind of training did she/they receive?/where? * What position is she/are they in? Quantitative data. * Did you think females could succeed in traditionally male jobs? * Would you welcome female VET graduates as interns in your business? Under what conditions? (Money and other) * What has your experience been with female employees/? * Would it require any special changes/arrangements to accommodate female employees? Modify work organization/regulations for instance. 4. Among women who made their career in a non-traditional sector * How did their career evolve in schools, universities, and professional fields? * Identify the barriers and constraints to a woman's career evolution. * How to attract females to sector: sensitizing youngsters, other females, males. * DWes the training address employers' needs? 5. Among women seeking jobs * History of training, and of job interruption * Job search procedure-what steps/strategies? * What other professional/para-professional activities are undertaken? * What plans for the future?  Annex 4 Page 7 of 7 Table A.1: Descriptive information about phase 1 sample schools Total # Groups, # Female School Enrollment Girls Boys % Girls Grade Levels #Teachers Teachers Urban Primary (N=3) Pl-U (RI)l 1422 642 780 45 19 (1-6) 19 13 P2-U (RI) 2225 968 1257 44 34 (1-6) 36 21 Pl-U (R2) 934 373 561 40 15 (1-6) 15 4 Average 1527 661 866 43 23 23 13 Rural Primary (N=8) Pl-R (R2) 292 95 197 33 6 (1-6) 6 2 P2-R (R2) 370 96 274 26 6 (1-6) 8 0 Pl-R (R3) 148 42 106 28 4 (1,3-5) 3 0 P2-R (R3) 92 22 70 24 3 (1,2,4) 2 0 Pl-R (R4) 254 63 191 25 6 (1-6) 6 0 P2-R (R4) 142 18 124 13 5 (1-3, 5-6) 4 0 PI-R (R5) 153 30 133 20 4 (1-3,6) 4 0 P2-R(R5) 152 54 98 36 4 (1,3-5) 4 0 Average 200 52 149 26 5 5 0 Urban College (N=4) Cl-U (RI) 1375 413 962 30 14 (7-10) 36 16 C2-U (RI) 1314 397 917 30 20 (7-10) 43 18 Cl-U (R2) 466 156 310 33 7 (7-10) 14 5 C1I-U (R4) 703 120 583 17 10 (7-10) 11 2 Average 964 271 693 28 13 26 11 Rural College (N=2) Cl-R (R3) 168 24 124 14 4 (7-10) 8 0 C I-R (R5) 203 23 180 11 3 (7-9) 7 0 Average 186 24 152 13 Source: Information taken from "Enquetes Statistiques Enseignment Primaire" and "Enquetes Statistiques Enseignement Secondaire," 1993-94, MEPUFP, Service Statistique et Planification, Fiche No. 2, 3. 1"RI" through "R5" represent regional codes where RI = Conakry; R2 = Lower Guinea; R3 = or Middle Guinea; R4 = Upper Guinea; and R5 = the Forest Region. "P1," "P2," and so forth indicate primary schools in the region; "Cl" and "C2" indicate colleges. "R" or "U" designate rural or urban status as defined by the size of the community, presence or absence of electricity, presence or absence of other schools in the community, and size of school.   MAP SECTION   <~~ ~~ ~ ~ S E%l E; A L4-4s6oo J - 2' So " G U I N E A 8 > S~tslE~ AL'k~ 2 --' ----- <-. DEVELOPING GIRLS' EDUCATION ' f~~~~~ t ,~~~~~~1 ~To Kedigou "- TO Xime r -, N Nyagassolo G N/fN E A l2 5 1-samko \GM C N AN.N conokry4q,~7L Nn k ,MA ~~ ~ oi~'e TMmI ./ slsrm H tJT- AEDOS C >j. j; F6ltrahfRUESPVE , f) '7 KolinkoV Konon '1f ngor6di E Niandakora rMnAkL-I G U I IN E E 0~~~~~~~~~~~~' 1TOE t-t R2ry-r -- -ALL-WEATHER ROADS f . . .) 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