Formal school or Koranic school? Determinants of school type choice in Senegal

Abstract

This paper uses data from a novel household survey from the northernmost region of Senegal, Saint-Louis, in order to jointly analyse enrolment in formal and Koranic schools. The data-set includes detailed information on the education and current enrolment status of all household members. In the sample, 20% of children aged 6–14 are not enrolled in any type of school, while the majority (43%) are enrolled in both a formal and a Koranic school. Multinomial logit techniques are employed to jointly analyse enrolment in formal and Koranic schools. Specifically, these models allow for the possibility that a child combines formal and Koranic schooling. Results indicate that younger children and boys seem to favour Koranic schools, while older children and girls are more likely to attend a formal school. These results contribute towards explaining gender equality in Senegalese primary education that stands in sharp contrast to a general disadvantage of girls in other West African countries.