Ivory Coast
GRISAY, Aletta (1984) 'Analyse des inégalités de rendement liées au sexe de l'élève
dans l'enseignement primaire ivoirien', International Review of Education, Vol. 30, p.
25-39.
Research by the Laboratoire de Pédagoge Experimentale at the University of Liege
into primary education in the Ivory Coast found significant differences in achievement
between boys and girls across the curriculum. From the first years boys do better & by
the fourth year they have a strong advantage; this advantage lies not only in
mathematics, often considered a boys' area, but also in learning French (the medium of
instruction in the Ivory Coast). This situation differs from that of industrialised
countries where the performance of girls is generally superior to that of boys in subjects
linked to language learning. The author suggests that boys in the Ivory Coast (and in
certain other developing countries too) may do better than girls in the speaking, reading
and writing skills for a variety of reasons:
• because the cultural image of male and female roles engenders different
behaviour expectations of girls in school and because there is less
pressure on girls to do well, there is a negative influence on girls'
motivation the teaching personnel is largely male
• boys have more chance to use French outside school
• girls gain less from classroom experience because they interact less, ask
fewer questions. Cultural patterns demand reserved behaviour from a
girl: "il est malséant pour une fille... de trop parler ou de se faire
remarquer; on la considérait comme une effrontée", say Ivory Coast
teachers. (p. 35)
The author feel that it is the last point - patterns of behaviour in the classroom, which
most affects girls' results in the Ivory Coast. Direct participation in the
teaching/learning process in the classroom, and frequent opportunities to answer, talk
and interact are essential in the acquisition of French which is itself a prerequisite for
success in the other disciplines.
Attitudes towards the education of girls among the largely male teaching personnel
appear to be equivocal, judging by a sample surveyed. Although 80 - 90% of the
teachers agreed with statements about the necessity for girls to go to school, to stay
there longer & even to have the right to go on to University, traditional views surfaced