Gender, agency, and school absenteeism: Bottlenecks to children’s right to education in Ethiopia

Keywords: Child labor, child rights, environmental justice, school absenteeism, shade coffee
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

Education is key to human development and human capital formation, and to achieve several other sustainable development goals. Several global agenda to promote education have been endorsed and implemented in Ethiopia, which have substantially increased the number of schools and enrolments rates especially at primary level. Despite such improvements, the country’s education system has faced with multitudes of intertwined problems. By using quantitative and qualitative data, this study examined the levels and causes of primary school absenteeism during a school year, and its implications for educational outcomes in coffee-producing areas in southwestern Ethiopia. The results indicated that large proportions of students, e.g. c. 30% in 2018-2019, were absent from schools each day during the school year; more students were absent from school during the second semester than the first semester; and slightly more boys than girls absent from school. The high level of school absenteeism is rooted in economic, cultural, and political structures; and affecting education quality and outcomes negatively. An aspect highlighting this problem is that boys often forced to work and support themselves; such work helped them to achieve financial independence and more agency at young age, which often decreases their school attendance; while parents strive to fulfil girls’ needs to keep them in schools until they will get married. The study discusses how improving socio-economic contexts, school standard and education quality might improve regular school attendance and educational outcomes in rural setting.