At 88%, Cameroon’s net primary school enrollment rate is one of the highest in West and Central Africa. But behind that encouraging statistic lies the problem of gender disparity. Girls’ enrollment lags behind boys’ across the country, and the problem has the government and the international community scrambling to take action.
A 2012 study published by the Cameroonian government found that for every 100 boys enrolled in school, only 85 girls also attend. The gender disparity is even more pronounced in some areas of the country. In the poverty-stricken Far North Region only 69% of girls attend school, versus 98% of boys. And in communities bordering the Sahara desert, only 17% of girls are enrolled.
According to Plan International’s Jaïre Moutcheu, a mixture of traditional cultural attitudes and economic challenges in these regions combine to stack the deck against girl students.
“Some parents prefer to give priority to boys’ education because they believe a girl will soon get married,” Moutcheu says. “Some don’t have enough resources and prefer to focus the little they have on the education of the boy.”
Despite international campaign efforts against child marriage, 31% of Cameroonian girls are married before age 15. In addition to the numerous documented health and psychological risks associated with child marriage, their education effectively ends as well.
Compounding the issue, the risk of sexual assault by male teachers and classmates leads many girls to feel insecure and often leave school.
In an effort to address these problems, UNICEF and Plan International have begun sensitization campaigns to reach at-risk communities, and offer scholarships to female students. Some schools have been renovated to have more secure toilet facilities, and a new initiative from the government of Japan and UNICEF has planned the construction of “girl-child friendly” primary schools, with enhanced support for women’s groups and a food-handout program.
Marie Therese Abena, Cameroon’s Women’s Empowerment Minister, notes that there is much work still to be done to tackle the cultural attitudes that hinder girls’ education. Despite the challenges, she is optimistic.
“It’s not 100% yet, but we’re improving,” she says. “Each one of us has to do their own share of the work so that we can see the girl-child evolve in our society and contribute.”
Creative Commons Love: Shishi Adventures on Flickr.com
Written by Carla Drumhiller Smith