Senegal: Poverty and education in rural Senegal

Gender gaps in schooling in Senegal are pervasive, says a paper from the Population Council, USA. In both urban and rural areas girls suffer from marked disadvantages relative to boys in all three measures of schooling. In wealthier urban households, girls' disadvantages are smaller, but not completely eliminated. Furthermore, no systematic reduction in female disadvantage is apparent in rural Senegal, even in the uppermost stratum of households. Judging from these findings, income growth alone is unlikely to close the schooling gap between urban and rural areas or between boys and girls in Senegal.