Situational Analysis of Education of Girls/Women in Tanzania

Abstract

In the field of education, women lag behind globally. Out of 948 million
illiterates in the world, two thirds are women. In 1990, 130 million children
had no access to primary school, of these, 81 million were girls. Gender
disparities are widest in the following regions: South Asia, Middle East., North
Africa and Sub-Saharan Africa. The high illiteracy rates in most of the
developing countries and particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa has been singled
out as the most severe impediment to the advancement of women and to the,
development process in general. Furthermore, education is said to remain the
most powerful tool for the social, economic and political integration of women.
Education is also said to be instrumental in promoting tolerance, democratic
values, political awareness and respect for the human person.
Existing data indicate that, women in Sub-Saharan Africa have an average
of less schooling than in any other region of the world, that is just one year
compared to a male average of two years. There are however, variations per
country. Women in Seychelles, for instance, have on average the largest
amount of schooling in Africa (4.4 years) although the gender gap is large.
While Mauritania, Guinea-Bissau and Mali have on average the least amount of
schooling, in the region, that is, one-tenth of one year compared to male
average of a half of one year, hence have the largest gender gap in the region.1
Sub-Saharan Africa moreover, has the lowest gross female enrolment and
has the second lowest female literacy in the world (after South Asia which has
the lowest literacy rates and largest gender gap). The literacy rates of women
and men in Sub-Saharan Africa is 36% and 59% respectively. There are
however, some variations with countries like Madagascar having the highest
rates of female adult literacy, that is 73% and smallest gender gap in the
region. The gender ratio is 0.83%.