Promoting girls' and women's education: Lessons from the past

Abstract

Many societies underinvest in girls' and women's education for three main reasons: high direct, indirect, and cultural costs; too few private benefits; and parent's failure to consider the social benefits of education. Strategies that have increased female enrollment are those that: lower the costs of education by providing culturally appropriate facilities, scholarships, and alternative schools that offer classes in the early morning or evening; and those that train girls and women in growth sectors of the economy at the same time that they make strong recruitment and placement efforts. Strategies that have failed include those that distribute school uniforms and offer vocational training that is not directly linked to employment. Too little information is available to assess the effectiveness of programmed learning, day care, home technologies, information campaigns, school meals, and the revamping of curricula and textbooks to introduce broader roles for women. More research is needed on: 1) the importance parents and girls attach to the quality of available education when making their schooling decisions; 2) girls' and women's participation in educational programs; and 3) individual, family, community, and school factors that limit girls' and women's participation and achievement. There should also be more experiments with different approaches and more evaluation of program outcomes.