Social Dynamics of Adolescent Fertility in Sub-Saharan Africa (1993) / Chapter Skim
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5 EDUCATION AND ADOLESCENT FERTILITY
5 EDUCATION AND ADOLESCENT FERTILITY
Pages 89-115
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From page 89... ...
Yet within this general agreement is a question of perpetual contention: How, precisely, does education work this reproductive magic? Does it teach a woman Western scientific facts about reproduction and health, instruct her in the national language in which radio messages about contraception are broadcast, expose her to ideals of low fertility, extricate her from the authority of kin who demand high fertility, imbue her with career aspirations outside the home, embolden her to ask for contraceptives from intimidating family planning personnel or in the face of an irate husband?
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From page 90... ...
_ A ~ ~ ~ ~ A A A ~ Education is usually assumed to affect fertility, rather than vice versa, because women usually acquire education in their youth and bear children as adults, after their education has ended. By the logic of temporal order, education is assumed to have imprinted women in ways that make them substantially alter their lifetime reproductive behavior.
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From page 91... ...
, that gives a flavor of what can best be described as the culture of education in many African countries. To be sure, primary school enrollment rates in Sierra Leone are not unusually high, compared with those in other countries: The gross primary enrollment rate was 53 percent in 1988 (World Bank, 19881.
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From page 92... ...
But the eagerness to learn is so palpable that most children persist in their studies even in the face of extreme hardship. Larger towns may have several primary schools and perhaps a secondary school.
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From page 93... ...
During the holiday, many boys in secondary schools travel around the country, seeking money from relatives for school fees and expenses, making sure, if they did well, to bring their report cards with them. Desires for schooling produce an extraordinary degree of child mobility even on a weekly basis.
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From page 94... ...
Almost without exception, girls entering secondary school have ambitions to go on to college or professional schools. But, although the number of girls and boys beginning primary school is now roughly equal, the proportion of girls declines rapidly as puberty approaches.
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From page 95... ...
Most African countries reported substantial increases in enrollment rates for primary school (the percentage of the relevant age group enrolled in primary school)
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From page 96... ...
Enrollment rates of girls are lower, in general, than those of boys. In 1970, 32 percent of girls and 63 percent of boys aged 6-12 were in primary school in Africa (World Bank, 1988~; by 1980 the percentages had increased to 58 percent and 87 percent, respectively.
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From page 97... ...
21 32 n.a. Rwanda 31 44 48 35 33 34 Senegal 32 39 40 27 29 33 Sierra Leone 34 40 41 27 28 28 Somalia 25 24 36 9 16 34 Swaziland 50 49 50 45 44 49 Tanzania 34 39 49 32 29 35 Togo 28 31 39 23 22 25 Uganda 32 40 43 21 25 33 Zaire 27 37 43 24 22 28 Zambia - 40 45 47 23 33 36 Zimbabwe 45 45 48 36 39 40 NOTE: n.a.
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From page 98... ...
Despite overall increases in secondary education, the World Bank (1988) reports, increases in primary school enrollments slowed between 1980 and 1983, and in several countries (Togo, Somalia, Tanzania, Liberia, and Nigeria)
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From page 99... ...
How adolescent fertility fits the contours of this generalization is less clear. The Demographic and Health Surveys include data on the highest level of school attended: none, primary, secondary, or higher.
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From page 100... ...
level of education. Almost all the countries show a predictable negative relationship between the highest level of formal education received and giving birth as teenagers: In general, the percentage of teenage mothers is slightly lower among those with primary education than among those with no education.
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From page 101... ...
Whereas education authorities often fear parental opposition to family life education courses, families are divided: Some want to retain the responsibility; others argue that it is the school's duty (National Institute of Development Research and Documentation, University of Botswana, 1988~. Official policies in a number of countries still restrict family life education.
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From page 102... ...
Reproduction and family life education courses are seldom taught at the university level, and only a few countries (Angola, Liberia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Uganda, and Zambia) offer them in teacher training colleges.
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From page 103... ...
bSenderowitz and Paxman (1985:28) write that in Sierra Leone education on sexuality is included only in the secondary school curriculum.
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From page 105... ...
among women who attended primary school than among those with no formal education. But in most countries significant increases in reproductive knowledge do not appear until secondary school.
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From page 106... ...
In countries such as Ghana, Kenya, Mali, and Nigeria, family planning and health messages are broadcast regularly on the radio and/or television, often in local languages or through drama or musical performances (Republique du Mali, 1988; Rimon et al., 1988; Church and Geller, 1989; Piotrow et al., 1990~. Table 5-8 displays the percentages of women aged 15-19 and 20-24 who report that they listen to the radio weekly and, for two countries only, remember hearing a family planning message.
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From page 107... ...
These results simply suggest that the content of formal education, at least through primary school and quite frequently through secondary school, may be less effective than conventional wisdom suggests in changing reproductive behavior or in imparting knowledge of the reproductive cycle. Clearly, women's behavior concerning fertility, as well as their reproductive knowledge and contraceptive use, vary with their education.
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From page 108... ...
secondary schools, which typically enroll students from poorer families, had pregnancy-related dropout rates more than twice as high as government-maintained and private schools (Division of Family Health/GTZ Support Unit, 1988~. Another piece of evidence that supports the argument for economic hardship is that boarders and students in girls-only schools in Kenya had lower dropout rates than did day students and those in coeducational boarding schools, even though boys and girls are housed separately (Division of Family Health/GTZ Support Unit, 19881.
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From page 109... ...
Earlier we presented evidence that educational attainment affects fertility desires and behavior, as well as contraceptive use. Yet the preceding section described some strong evidence that adolescent fertility also affects educational attainment.
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From page 110... ...
Among the primary school dropouts, only 20 percent subsequently reenrolled, and only 17 percent of secondary school dropouts did so. A number of studies concur that many young women drop out of school as a result of pregnancy (Gyepi-Garbrah, 1985a)
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From page 111... ...
The very few who secure admission lose one year and thus, may not qualify to enter the very good secondary schools because of age restrictions in the selection process. Child care itself imposes constraints on many would-be returnees.
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From page 112... ...
Most secondary schools do not allow pregnant girls to continue their studies. Pregnant schoolgirls are allowed to transfer to night school.
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From page 113... ...
Whereas strict policies limit educational achievements, informal social pressures may be equally effective. As a young woman in Sierra Leone related, people often taunt an adolescent mother who tries to return to school, and use her past to shame her: When you get pregnant, that is virtually the end of your schooling Of course, you can now try to come back to the same school, but sometimes you will get mocked, making you very afraid to come back ....
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From page 114... ...
Not surprisingly, the probability of giving birth as a teenager is slightly lower for women with primary education than for women with no education, and much lower for women with secondary or higher education. In trying to explain these results, we have avoided the conventional assumption that educational achievement necessarily lowers fertility because we are dealing with adolescents, among whom this kind of causality may be reversed: Reproductive events may curtail opportunities for formal education.
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From page 115... ...
Conversely, a girl who delays marriage or a sanctioned procreative relationship with a man-has a better chance than others do of going on in school. Yet for educated women, delaying marriage may also precipitate what we call premarital pregnancies simply because such women may prefer to label themselves as unmarried.
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