The Girl-Child and Government Service Provision.pdf - Tanzania ...

similar to the national average, which is 51.7 per cent menand 48.3 per cent women. Thus we can assume that interms of access there is no significant difference in cyclesI and II.According to MEP data for the year 2002, at a nationallevel, 95.3 per cent of girls of school age were enroled,whereas the percentage for boys was 94 per cent. 3 Forjunior high school (cycle III), 60.4 per cent of the girls wereenroled, compared to 57.8 per cent of boys. In the cantonsunder study, the balance of enrolment for cycle III was 52per cent for girls and 48 per cent for boys. However, enrolmentfor secondary school is much lower than for primary.In fact, access to secondary education is more limited,as the total enrolment in these cantons is 22,921 forprimary and only 10,557 for secondary. This reflects thelimited coverage of secondary education in the area beingstudied. In 2002, there were 32 high schools in these cantons,in contrast with 325 primary schools. Despite theexistence of complementary programmes offered by theMEP, such as the TV High School, these initiatives do notsucceed in reducing the negative indicators in terms ofcoverage.In the face of these inverted percentages between primaryand secondary school in terms of the composition of theenrolment by sex, it is worth asking why boys attend thesecondary school in lesser proportion when they makeup a slightly higher majority of the population. One likelyinfluence is the high rate of male child labour in thesecommunities. The child population engaged in work is lesslikely to attend school (see Table 3–4).These data indicate that the number of adolescent boyswho are working is much higher than that of adolescentgirls working, and that the percentage of adolescent boysworking who do not attend school is higher than that ofgirls in the same situation.If remunerated child labour affects adolescent boys morethan adolescent girls in terms of education, this may accountin large part for the majority of girls in the secondaryschools; in the cantons under study the differencesbetween the rates of male and female child labour are high(see Table 3–5).Upala, Los Chiles and La Cruz are the cantons in the studythat are most strongly affected by child labour, especiallyfor boys. And it is in these cantons that female enrolmentin the secondary school is much higher than the male one.The fact that many children and youth value productionactivities over education evidences the economic difficultiesthat many families are experiencing.UseIn 2002, in cycles I and II, 86.6 per cent of the girls passed,in contrast to 80.5 per cent of the boys. This is consistentwith teacher interviews, in which 46 per cent indicatedthat both sexes perform equally, 49 per cent asserted thatTable 3–4. Activity and lack of school attendanceCondition of activityand school attendanceWorkingDo not attend school%Not workingDo not attend school%Population, 12-14 years oldTotal10,2808,21479.9487,22166,51413.7Boys8,5937,06782.2242,84427,76211.8Girls1,6871,14768.0244,37737,75215.4Population, 15-17 years oldTotal41,42634,26082.7150,95719,69013.0Boys32,39927,40784.678,03613,44517.2Girls9,0276,85375.972,9216,2458.6Source: Table 3–4 is based on the study Trabajo infantil y adolescente peligroso en Costa Rica by the InternationalProgram for the Eradication of Child Labor/Interational Labor Organization (IPEC/ILO), 2003, in turn based on the 2000housing censusThe Girl-Child and Government Service Provision 61