Senegal: Poverty and schooling patterns in urban and rural areas

In Senegal, gender gaps in schooling are pervasive and are only modestly influenced by standards of living, says this report from the Population Council, USA. In both urban and rural areas girls suffer from marked disadvantages relative to boys. 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.