Childhood learning, life skills and well‐being in adult life: a Senegalese case

Abstract

Education is not easily converted into human capital and well‐being in low‐income countries, because these countries do not have a high degree of economic and labour market differentiation that makes it possible to convert acquired knowledge and skills. Consequently, to have completed primary or even secondary education does not necessarily lead to a better life situation than some types of Islamic education. This paper reports findings from an ongoing longitudinal research project in Senegal. The study compares the relationships between educational/learning background, life skills and well‐being in adult life among individuals who attended primary school, Quranic, Arabic or Indigenous learning systems at the beginning of the 1980s. The findings illustrate some of the complexities in the relationships between, on the one hand, education and life skills and, on the other hand, individual well‐being in a low‐income society. Since this study enters into an area that has not been very much researched, this study is explorative and employs concepts heuristically. Some findings in relation to different theoretical approaches are also discussed here.