CHAPTER TWO

2. LITERATURE REVIEWS
This chapter contains two parts. The first part discussed related literatures which is
theoretical while the second part explains empirical literature.
2.1. Theoretical literature
2.1.1 Constraints on the impact of formal education
Some of the major factors influencing the provision of formal education and limiting its
effectiveness for poor and disadvantaged people are
1. Global economic relations: - these play a key role in determining the effectiveness of
formal education in achieving development for society as a whole. Even where the state
invests heavily in education and is committed to social equality and development
2. Differentiated access and opportunities: - education promotes social advancement,
raises the states of women and leads to improvements in health and childcare. However,
educational opportunities is limited by the proximity to urban centers, poverty, and by
discrimination based on gender, class race or cultures. For example, in Costa Rica, the
national figures for adult illiteracy in 1984 were 7 percent, but in the poorest rural areas
was almost 20 percent. The discrimination suffered by the people because of their
cultures or limits their access to education and their opportunities to use it effectively.
They have to choose between potential alienation from their own culture, and the need to
master language and cultural forms of the dominant society in order to survive
successfully within it. These choices are experienced differently by women and men.
(Eade and William, 1995).
3. Gender: - this is crucial factor in determining educational opportunities; girl’s often
fore worse than boys’ interims of primary school enrollment. There are considerable
differences in the level of the males and females education in most arts of the world. In
the Afghanistan, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Somalia, and Nepal, females’ illiteracy in 1990
was twice as high as the figures for males. In Salvadoran rural women’s organization
founded by Oxfam only one percent of the members could read one percent of the
members could read and write. Bangladesh is an extreme example, where of the 60
percent of all children who enroll fewer than 10 percent are girls the ratios are generally
worse at secondary level and above. Fewer than have as many girls as boys are enrolled
in secondary school in Sub-Saharan Africa 15 percent and 44 percent respectively. There
are many factors for unequal educational opportunities of girls and boys. Mothers are
likely to have received inadequate schooling themselves, and their daughters generally
bear the burden of domestic work and childcare from an early age. The expectation of
early marriage or (fact of teenage pregnancy) is also used to justify cutting short girl’s
education. In self-fulfilling cycle, since greater employment opportunities exists for men
than women, boys’ education takes priority over girls’ education because they are more
likely to be able to use it. Cultural factors can reinforce gender based discrimination
women are often regarded as bearers of traditional culture, particularly, culture identifies
are threatened. In such circumstances, they may be formal education (Eade and William,
1995)
4. Poverty:-the poorest people are hardest hit inflation, unemployment, and cuts in
services. They cannot always afford to keep children at school, particularly at the
secondary level. Costs of education including clothes, books, equipment and

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maintenance, and fees. The economic difficulties of poor families increase the pressure
on children to earn money either instead of or in addition to going to school. A further
formal education is irrelevant to their economic and cultural need which in often born out
by a chronic lack of employment opportunities which make use of skills gained at school.
In addition, poor children live in environment where study is difficult and where poor
health, over work, and malnutrition may leave them without energy and concentration to
learn (Eade and William, 1995).
2.1.2. The gender gap in education.
Low adult literacy rates prevail throughout the developing world. In fourteen developing
countries where literacy date are available, only one in five adult women can read, where
as the literacy rates for men ate as low in only five of these countries. Recent estimates
suggest that only one out of two women in Asia is literate and only out of three in sub-
Saharan Africa (UNESCO, 1992).
School enrollment rates have been raising for both girls and boys at all levels in the past
two decades. Primary school enrolment, in particular, has out paced the growth of youth
population, although a few low income countries especially, in sub-Saharan Africa
experienced decline in primary enrollments in the 1980’s. (UNESCO, 1992).
Many countries have no universal primary education for males and females. But girls
enrollments continuous to lag behind in many others, most dramatically in south Asian,
west Asia, north Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa. With exception of sri lanka

2.1.3 Gender literacy and cultural difference

Gender literacy and cultural difference one area of apparent controllers concerns the
extent to which the obstacles to girls and women’s education are similar across cultures.
One view is that in all cultures, although in varying degree, male/female relationship
place obstacles in the way of girls’ and women’s full participation in education.
Patriarchy is manifested in two ways: the sexual division of labor, and control over
women’s sexuality. Both these factors so condition a women’s world-view that marriage,
husband, and family become the be-all and-all for the existence. They also limit women’s
mental horizons and push education from her attention. As girl’s grow up, socialized into
their future roles as sexual division of labor the second components, control over
women’s sexuality, ensures that women maintain their roles as wives and mothers and is
the cause of women’s inability to control their fertility and its associated consequences,
including unwanted pregnancies, the practice of early marriage, restricted physical
mobility for women, and domestic violence. (UNESCO, 1992),

Who benefits from all this? Whose interests are served as by these existing conditions?
In feminist theory, it is undoubtedly men who benefit. Does this mean that feminists are
setting women against men and women and men against women? The answer is no most
feminists seem to be seeking a more egalitarian society in which women are treated as
equals with men “According to feminist theory, the problem of women’s illiteracy will

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not be solved merely underlying problem is not technical. For change to occur, individual
men in a male-dominated state will have to re-examine and modify their own values and
attitudes.

An alternative view is that cultural difference between countries is more important than
some feminist would accept. For example, successful literacy ventures in Pakistan are
often community based; the important thing is to change total attitudes. In Feriur-ban
Karachi this has been done.

Successfully using flexible working hours both formal and non-formal teaching methods,
and education both parents and children, adults are motivated to learn via primary
economic interests (functional literacy) who has become the subject of the basic
education curriculum. Residential facilities for teachers based in community have led to
greater school community interaction and help facilitates more opportunities for girls and
for more women. The whole programme has helped produce a positive, confident self
concept of women. However, cultural constraints are undeniably powerful. For, example,
the word “child”, which is gender is neutral in English language, has masculine
connection in south Asia. Here the stark reality is that, by and large, girls are denied that
joyful care free period of growing and learning that is called child hood. Very little value
is attached to girls she is caught in a men of cultural practices and social prejudices from
the moment of her birth. Although she works twice as hard as her brother, and her labor
contributes to the survival of the family, neglect and malnutrition, treated as lesser human
being and brought up to believe that she does not count. Therefore, in any society that
aims to social justice in any policy that seeks to move towards quality of educational
opportunity, attention has to be focused is contrary to entrenched cultural values. Changes
in education that do not enhance the states of women are not likely either to be generally
accepted or to reduce women’s present state of under development.

2.1.4. Problems that female student face in Addis Ababa high schools
Another researcher (Emebet, 2003) classified problems of girl’s education under
subheadings of economic constraints, family related barriers and cultural barriers
economic constraints.

The impact of poverty on women’s education can be studied at two levels:

Country level and family level. Although the degree of poverty in country affects the
education and in general the life of its citizens, the effect can be moderated by the socio-
economic status a family has within the society (Emebet, 2003 p.33)

In discussing the effects of poverty on the education of women, Njeuman (1993)

explained that much improvement has been observed in the education of women since the
1960’s (Emebet, 2003). However, poverty is still slowing the progress. Discussing
African, the pointed out that among thirty poorest countries in the world, twenty are
found in Africa. Under these circumstances, the major concern is the provision of
education for children in general; it is difficult to give special attention to girl’s, she

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further pointed out that although many developing countries put sign out amounts of
money and energy into education, several of them were not able to provide it for all
school age children. (Emebet, 2003 p.34),

Enrollment of girls in school does not guarantee success and completion in these poor
countries. Strongest (1990) noted that in all developing countries were the United Nations
under took studies, during recession years; girl’s often experienced a change in parental
plans for enrollment. In such years parents choose retain daughters at home assist with
work and income generating activities, which would result in lower female attainment.
(Emebet, 2000)

Because of this fiscal strait, the inequality of males and females in the area of education
is quite staggering. Hyde (1993:101) pointed out that in Sub-Saharan Africa, one of the
most enduring kinds of educational inequality is one observed between males and
females