women's budgeting and spending patterns/ how does literacy affect women's care for
the environment? what is the interaction between schooled women and women gaining
literacy in adulthood in movements for social change? Much of the existing evidence of
some progress is based on short term, small scale project outcomes, but the more
important dimension is the longer term. More research is needed, but at least there is
widespread evidence of the significance of literacy for development, and in particular
of female literacy.
KING, Elizabeth M and Hill, M. Anne (1993), Women's Education in Developing
Countries: Barriers, Benefits and Policies, The John Hopkins University Press,
Baltimore and London.
This book examines the education of women in developing countries from an economic
perspective, both in terms of the then current situation and in terms of prospects for the
future. The Foreward by Lawrence Summers, who has also examined this issue and is
listed in this bibliography, contains telling introductory statistics about the 100 million
or so "missing women" who in effect do not survive the rigours of the Third World. As
he puts it: "Whereas women comprise 52.5 percent of the population in the industrial
world, they account for only 51 per cent of the population in Sub-Saharan Africa, less
than 48 per cent in East Asia, and less than 47 per cent in South Asia".
Such a situation correlates with indications surrounding the issue of educational
disadvantage: that is to say, poorer cultures tend to view girls as less valuable than boys
in that they may be less capable to perform physical labour - and yet they are called
upon to do exactly that.
There are eight chapters. The first two comprise an overview of women's education in
developing countries, and an analysis of the returns to women's education. These are
followed by five regional chapters: Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East and North Africa,
Latin America and the Caribbean, South Asia and East Asia. All contain detailed data
on the economic and educational condition of their respective regions, and polices
implemented in respect of the education of women and girls. The final chapter
concentrates on lessons to be had from the experiences outlined before and selects a
number of desirable aims: expanding access to schools; providing culturally appropriate
facilities; recruiting female teachers; reducing direct costs; reducing opportunity costs;
increasing the benefits; alleviating poverty; making interventions more successful. The
writers conclude that while local initiatives are important and local research is needed
to provide insights into the determinants of female disadvantage in particular contexts,
broad policies also make a difference: "For example, the more the government supports
primary education, the greater the relative benefits to girls because girls are more likely
than boys to quit school after primary level." Such an assessment fits well with the post-
Jomtien thrust for basic educational development and the likely returns from investing
in it.