Closing the education gender gap: estimating the impact of girls' scholarship program in The Gambia

Abstract

This paper estimates the impact of a school fee elimination program for female secondary students in The Gambia to reduce gender disparity in education. To assess the impact of the program, two nationally representative household surveys were used (1998 and 2002/2003). By 2002/2003, about half of the districts in the country had benefited from the program. We found that the program increased enrollment for secondary school female students by 5 percentage points. The effects for female primary school students were similarly significant. The program had no significant impact on enrollment for male students at any level.