Education for all and for life? An introduction into primary school education in Senegal

Gönsch, Iris; Graef, Steffen Working Paper Education for all and for life? An introduction into primary school education in Senegal Discussion Paper, No. 55 Provided in Cooperation with: Justus Liebig University Giessen, Center for international Development and Environmental Research (ZEU) Suggested Citation: Gönsch, Iris; Graef, Steffen (2011) : Education for all and for life? An introduction into primary school education in Senegal, Discussion Paper, No. 55, Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen, Zentrum für Internationale Entwicklungsund Umweltforschung (ZEU), Giessen This Version is available at: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/74445 Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen: Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden. Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen. 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An Introduction into Primary School Education in Senegal by IRIS GOENSCH* AND STEFFEN GRAEF** No. 55 Gießen, May 2011 *Center for International Development and Environmental Research (ZEU), Section 3 Justus Liebig University Giessen Senckenbergstr. 3 D-35390 Giessen, Germany e-mail: Iris.Goen[email protected]e **Center for International Development and Environmental Research (ZEU), Section 3 Justus Liebig University Giessen Senckenbergstr. 3 D-35390 Giessen, Germany                         DiesesWerkistimInternetunterfolgenderCreativeCommonsLizenzpubliziert: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by‐nc‐nd/3.0/de/ SiedürfendasWerkvervielfältigen,verbreitenundöffentlichzugänglichmachen,wenndas DokumentunverändertbleibtundSiedenNamendesAutorssowiedenTitelnennen.DasWerkdarf nichtfürkommerzielleZweckeverwendetwerden. Contents 1 Introduction 1 2 Methodology and Research Area 2 2.1 Methodology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2.2 Research Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 3 The Educational Sector in Senegal 5 3.1 School System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 3.2 Curriculum of Primary Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 4 Reality in Public Primary Schools 6 4.1 Availability and Condition of Primary School Facilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 4.2 Costs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 4.3 Class Size, Shifts and Multigrade Teaching . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 4.4 Grade Progression and Late Enrollment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 4.5 Tuition Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 5 Children’s Education and its Importance to Families 10 5.1 Appreciation of Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10 5.2 Gender Issues . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 6 Incentives, Disincentives and Rivals to Formal Primary Education 11 6.1 Perspectives After Primary School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 6.2 Returns to Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 6.3 Rivals to Formal Schooling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 7 Conclusion 14 I 1 Introduction In the course of the Education for All movement (launched in 1990) the educational system in Senegal has shown some substantial improvements. For instance, the adult literacy rate (15+) increased from not even 27 percent in 1988 (UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2010a) to about 43 percent in 2008 (UNICEF, 2009). The gross enrollment rate (GER) 1rose from 65 percent in 1999 to 84 percent in 2008 at the primary level and even doubled from 15 percent to 30 percent at the secondary level in the same period (UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2010a). However, a closer look at the current state of the education system in Senegal reveals the necessity for further efforts. In 2008, Senegal’s total population of about 12.2 million comprised roughly 1.4 million (11.6 percent) children of the official primary school age, i.e. six to twelve years old (UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2010a). However, Senegal’s total primary school age population exceeded 1.9 million pupils in 2008 (UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2010a) indicating a high extent of over-aged students in primary school. This leads to a net enrollment rate (NER)2of 73 percent compared to the GER of 84 percent at the primary school level. This, in turn, means that more than a quarter of children at the official primary school age were not enrolled in 2008. Although Senegal’s NER increased sharply from 55 percent in 1999 to 73 percent in 2008 (UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2010a) it is still among the lowest compared to other sub-Saharan African countries (see e.g. UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) (2010b) and UNESCO International Bureau of Education (2007)). Besides the low enrollment rates, a high number of drop outs is a matter of concern, since only 58 percent of children complete primary school (UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2010a). Accordingly, the NER was only 21 percent at the secondary school level in 2006 (UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2010a). While there is no significant gender gap at the primary level, with drop out rates being higher for girls than for boys the gender inequality is more distinct at the secondary level. Another major problem is the low rate of literacy. Despite some improvements made in the last decade, with an adult literacy rate of 43 percent and a youth literacy rate of 51 percent in 2006, Senegal lies beneath the sub-Saharan African average (about 62 percent and 71 percent, respectively). Additionally, literacy rates show a substantial gender gap although these disparities tend to decline in these years (UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), 2010a). This paper describes and analyzes the Senegalese schooling system and its implementation in an urban and a rural area. It is part of a larger project which focuses on educational decisions in developing countries, especially in West Africa. The emphasis of this study, as well as of the research project, is on primary schooling. Besides using official sources, it builds on insights and information gained during a field trip to different Senegalese regions in October 2010. During this period, several schools have been visited in an urban and a rural area. Conversations were hold with a wide range of participants and members of the educational sector, both to obtain detailed information and to gain an impression of their attitude towards different aspects of education. The research project will be continued with a quantitative study that focuses on educational decisions and the roles that family context and household composition play. Therefore, a household survey will be conducted in the region of Saint-Louis. The remainder of this paper is organized as follows. The following section introduces our research methodology and the study area. Section 3 describes the Senegalese schooling system, 1The gross enrollment rate (GER) is defined as total enrollment in a specific level of education, regardless of age, divided by the population of the age which officially corresponds to the specific level of education. 2The net enrollment rate (NER) is defined as the number of children of the official school age who are enrolled in a given level of education divided by the population of the age which officially corresponds to the specific level of education. 1 while Section 4 analyzes the realities we have seen and were told during the field trip. Section 5 emphasizes perception of education by families, including the special situation of girls. Section 6 focuses on (economic) incentives of school enrollment and rivals of formal schooling. Section 7 concludes. 2 Methodology and Research Area 2.1 Methodology The information presented in this study was collected during a qualitative fieldwork carried out in October 2010. Two different regions were visited during the field trip: the urban Kaolack region with the city of Kaolack and its surroundings and the rural Podor district in the Saint Louis region. The majority of interviews took place in schools so that the main respondents for this study were teachers, school principals and parents of pupils. Besides a secondary school in Podor district several public primary schools in Kaolack (city and surroundings) and in Podor district (Gu´edu´e Chantiers community) were visited. The interviews were conducted partly in groups and partly with single persons based on a semi-structured interview technique. Hence, additional questions amended a previously prepared questionnaire whenever necessary to gain additional information on important topics. In this way, we allowed the interviewees to express their opinions and concerns on whatever they considered important. The information obtained was supplemented during conversations with a social worker in Kaolack who is involved in several projects for disadvantaged children including a program that aims at reintegrating children that have left their families and live on the streets. Teacher trainers in the two regions, who are responsible for the formation of teachers, gave their impressions on teaching quality, school coverage and changes in both dimensions. Therefore, the field study provides some important insights into the current state of primary education from a teacherprincipal perspective as well as from a parents-pupils perspective. 2.2 Research Area The Republic of Senegal is the westernmost African country with its capital Dakar being located directly on the Atlantic coast. After the region had been a French colony as a part of French West Africa for more than a century, it gained independency in 1960 (Foreign and Commonwealth Office, 2010). Senegal’s population is made up of several ethnic groups including the Wolof, Pulaar, Toucouleur, Serer and Diola. While French is the official language, many African languages are widely spoken (e.g. Wolof, Pulaar and Serer). Senegal is one of the eight members of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA3) which was founded in 1994 in the course of a drastic depreciation of the common currency Franc CFA.4The union aims to increase the economic competitiveness and financial stability of its member states by means of economic and financial integration. Besides the establishment of common and open markets, the union members share a common currency, the Franc CFA, under a common monetary authority (Union Economique et Mon´etaire Ouest Africaine (UEMOA), 2007). In the Human Development Report 2010, Senegal ranks 144th with an HDI value of 0.411, which makes it one of the 49 Least Developed Countries (LDCs). The GNI per capita 2010 is 1,816 PPP 2008 $ and the average life expectancy at birth is 56.2 years. Table 1 presents further summary statistics for Senegal and the other members of the UEMOA. 3Union Economique et Mon´etaire Ouest Africaine. 4The Franc CFA (Franc de la Communaut´e Financi`ere Africaine) was introduced by the French during colonial times. 2 Table 1: UEMOA Members - Descriptive Statistics Benin Burkina Cˆote d’ GuineaMali Niger SeneTogo Faso Ivoire Bissau gal HDI value 0.435 0.305 0.397 0.289 0.309 0.261 0.411 0.428 HDI rank 134 161 149 164 160 167 144 139 population (millions) 9.2 16.3 21.6 1.6 13.3 15.9 12.9 6.8 life expectancy (in years) 62.3 53.7 58.4 48.6 49.2 52.5 56.2 63.3 GNI per capita (PPP 2008 $) 1499 1215 1625 538 1171 675 1816 844 Adult literacy Rate (15 +) (in %) 40.8 28.7 54.6 51 26.2 28.7 41.9 64.9 2005-08 Prim. School Net Enrollment Ratio 92.8 63.3 56 52.1 71.5 54 72.9 83.5 2001-09 Pupil-Teacher Ratio 2005-08 44.6 48.9 41.9 88.1 51.4 40.7 36.4 37.6 Source: UNDP (2010). Unless otherwise stated, the data are from 2010. Currently, Senegal is subdivided into 14 regions, each of which is named after its regional capital. During the field trip, the regions of Dakar, Kaolack and Saint-Louis have been visited, but school visits concentrated on the latter two regions. Kaolack region is located in the center of Senegal and borders on Gambia. The geographic and climatic conditions of the southern Sahelian zone in the north and the northern Sudanian zone in the southern part of the region are reflected in the vegetation which is characterized by shrubland in the north and by tree-covered savanna in the southern parts. About 95 percent of the population are Muslims and there are Christian and animistic minorities. Regarding the ethnic groups, the Wolof are the biggest group (over 60 percent) as in the whole country. Other important ethnic groups in Kaolack include the Pulaar (about 20 percent) and the Serer (about 10 percent) (Service R´egional de la Statistique et de la D´emographie de Kaolack, 2009). Countrywide the Wolof make up about 43 percent, the Pulaar about 24 percent and the Serer about about 15 percent (Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), 2011). Agriculture is the most important sector and occupies three quarters of the workforce, mainly focussing on the cultivation of groundnuts, watermelons, legumes, sorghum, millet, sesame, maize, rice, fonio and vegetables. Extensive husbandry also plays an important role for the region’s economy. Regarding industries, Kaolack’s portfolio is limited, but there are, for example, soap and textile production plants. Trade is very important, partly due to its position on the trading routes from Kayes (Mali) and Tambacounda to Dakar. The city of Kaolack is located 190 kilometers south-east of Dakar and is one of the five biggest cities in the country. It is especially known for the high importance of trade, as can be seen from the big markets. The city of Saint-Louis has about the same number of inhabitants. Figure 1 shows its location 265 kilometers north of Dakar near the Mauritanian border and at the mouth of the river Senegal. Founded by the French in 1638 and once the capital of French West Africa, the importance of the 3 In the areas visited, children typically only speak their maternal languages (Wolof, Pulaar, Serer, Soninke and others) before they enter school. Very few families speak French at home and young pupils find it hard to remember even basic structures of French after the holidays. In a second grade class we have seen a teacher explaining her pupils how to say good morning, how to ask if they could go to the toilet etc. 5 Children’s Education and its Importance to Families 5.1 Appreciation of Education All schools visited have a parents’ association with an elected president. This association is charged with the maintenance of the school facilities which is mainly financed by the annual inscription fee. Thus, the parents play an active role both in fixing the amount of the fee and in carrying out the maintenance and reconstruction work. In the beginning of the school year (and sometimes also during the year) schools invite all parents to a meeting where they present new teachers, give information on the number of students, funding of the school etc. In areas where one local language (e.g. Wolof or Pulaar) is predominant, this language is used for the collaboration between school and parents. On the one hand, many parents have several children in the same school and are very active in this collaboration for a long period. On the other hand, many other parents never participate in any of these events and do not seem to understand (or even ask) what their children are doing at school. Especially the more educated parents reported talking to their children after school about what the children had learned at school as well as practicing calculations and reading. The principal of a school at the outskirts of a city estimated that about 15 percent of parents were really interested in what their children learned at school. Apparently, not the knowledge of a specific subject is decisive in this regard, but rather the attitude parents had towards schooling of their children. Some teachers reported that some parents did not even have a concrete idea of the concept of schooling, i.e. they had no imagination of how their children spend the days at school. For example, some of the parents did not know the name of the school or the grade their children attend. As one of the visible consequences, many students do not take any bag to school in which they could carry their pencils and exercise books, so that these things are soon in a bad condition. Of course, not every family can afford fashionable school bags, but some families prepare used rice bags as school bags and some children use simple plastic bags which already protect their school materials. Regarding school quality, especially parents who had attended school themselves complained both about the level and about the recent developments. According to them, quality of primary and secondary schools has decreased since independence and especially during the last years when policy focused on quantity. Criticism included less qualified teachers after the shortened formation and too big class sizes. Also, the progression to the next grade and to secondary school was considered too pervious, which continuously lowered the quality. Although many of the parents who send their children to school are very conscious about the meaning of education and make sacrifices for that they can stay at school, some teachers mentioned that absenteeism was a problem. At some schools, student absenteeism was particularly frequent during seeding and harvest season, at other schools, students were mainly absent for religious ceremonies. In addition to these reasons and illness, many teachers said that students often missed the first days (or even weeks) of a school year. 10 5.2 Gender Issues With 74 percent the primary school enrollment rates for girls are slightly higher than for boys (72 percent) on the national level in 2008 (?). The higher the educational level, however, the lower becomes the share of females. This fact was confirmed by the field trip. As long as primary schools are available and accessible without making extensive sacrifices, parents tend to send girls and boys to school. However, parents are more concerned with girls if the school is farther away so that they would have to walk long distances or stay with a host family. Some parents stated that it was hard to find a host family for a girl that is strict enough, but that it was relatively easy to find a family a boy could stay with. In villages or smaller towns without secondary school this is a common reason for the dropout of girls. Furthermore, many parents do not attach a high value to a girl’s formal education and especially in rural areas girls still marry at a very young age and often do not continue their education once they have moved to their husbands’ families. The economic activity of a community seemed to have a high influence on the gender parity at school. In agricultural communities and urban areas, girls made up about half of all students. To the contrary, in pastoralist communities girls outnumber boys by far. In one small rural primary school less than one quarter of all students were boys and in some classes there was even only one single boy. Teachers stated that many parents in pastoralist communities prefer to send their sons to Quranic schools or to make them tend the stock (in the north predominantly cows) together with their male relatives. In these communities girls are apparently often rather sent to school for that they are occupied than for that they learn a lot. “If the parents were conscious of what education means for girls”, a school principal argued, “they would also be conscious of the importance of education for boys and send their sons to school, too.” According to this principal, hardly any of his former (female) students had completed the entire schooling system (i.e. the BAC), but more than half of them had completed primary school. Consequently, knowing how to read is considered useful by teachers for the later life of girls, but they do not benefit from the rest of what they have learned at school. 6 Incentives, Disincentives and Rivals to Formal Primary Education 6.1 Perspectives After Primary School Tuition fees at secondary schools are usually higher than at primary schools and since there are less secondary schools, distance plays a bigger role. The most important barrier, however, is the national grade six exam10 which is a prerequisite for being accepted at a public secondary school. One of the school principals at Kaolack stated that the success rate at his school was 98 percent in summer 2010. At some other schools this success rate was lower than 50 percent. Lately, access to secondary schools has been eased and exceptions are made, so that for example the best students of a class can attend secondary school even if they do not pass the national exam. On the one hand, primary school teachers are proud if a high proportion of their students is accepted at secondary school, but on the other hand, they also mention quality problems of secondary schools. According to teachers and school principals, those students who pass the grade six exam proceed with secondary school in spite of the costs. Most parents of successful children are usually willing to make sacrifices so that their children can attend school, although sometimes children 10In the Senegalese school system, the first class of secondary school is referred to as Sixi`eme which means sixth grade, because there are six more grades until the final grade, the Terminale. Section 3.1 of this paper has described that the exam that marks primary school completion (CFEE) is connected to the exam that qualifies for secondary school entry (i.e. entry to Sixi`eme). 11 have to convince their parents. The situation is a bit more difficult in rural areas when the nearest secondary school can be dozens of kilometers away. In this case, very few children commute to school daily, it is more common that children leave their families during the school year. These children often attend secondary schools wherever they have relatives or family friends they can stay with. This seems to be a bigger problem for girls, because parents find it more difficult to find a trustworthy family their daughter can live with. Making children live with other families increases the costs of schooling substantially. Distance – partly connected to costs – represents a major obstacle for continuing education after primary school. Children who are not accepted at public secondary schools basically have two options: They can attend a private secondary school (if they can afford it) or drop out of school. Some girls already marry after (or even during) primary school and move to their husbands’ families. Children – especially boys – who leave school without the BFEM, work in agriculture or seek an informal apprenticeship. 6.2 Returns to Education While attending school makes children proud and raises their self-esteem, it seems to increase labor market perspectives only after completing ten years of schooling (BFEM). Children who drop out before, teachers reported, might know how to read and write which is useful for their personal development, but primary education or incomplete secondary school do not pay off in economic terms. According to some parents things had been different for their generation when already a primary school degree had significantly improved job opportunities. For the teachers it is important to educate their students not only for the labor market, but also for an active life in the society. They mentioned civil and moral education (also education to active citizens) as important aspects. Hygienic and health units are also part of the curriculum and represent benefits of school attendance even if school is left without a degree. 6.3 Rivals to Formal Schooling Formal schooling includes both public and private schools that are officially recognized and that offer their students participation in the official exams and the possibility to receive official degrees. Although most primary school students are enrolled in public schools, eleven percent attend private schools (Boubacar and Fran¸cois, 2007), including Christian, Arab and Laicist private schools. Tuition fees are typically higher than at public schools, but even many of the private ones have large classes, often about 50 pupils per class. However, many parents do not want to send their children to a formal school for different reasons. For instance, in a rural community, teachers estimated that about one third of all children did not attend a formal school. Some of these children attend Quranic schools (daaras), partly because parents consider the religious education more important for their children. Studying the Quran at daaras has a long tradition in Senegal and has its roots in the formation of Muslim brotherhoods centuries ago. Traditionally, parents have sent their children, known as talib´es, to daaras where they reside with their religious teachers, the marabouts, until completion of their Quranic studies. Since most Quranic schools do not teach any other subjects, their graduates are not qualified for the secular labor market and often do not even speak French. Nevertheless, people who have studied the Quran can theoretically open up their own Quranic school. But many parents are willing to accept lower secular skills of their children in return for an ample knowledge of the Quran. Some parents try to make their children attend both formal and Quranic school, but this often does not work without problems. For example, a second grade student who had attended a Quranic school during the long summer holidays came back to his public primary school and did 12 not remember how to write the numbers from one to ten correctly. Instead, he wrote them from right to left and all numbers were mirror-inverted. Other parents reported that their children attended Quranic school not only during the holidays but also on weekends when formal schools are closed. As a result, children either do not have holidays and days off at all or do not attend formal school all five weekdays but only three or four days. Another variant mentioned was to start with full time Quranic education at a very young age. After one or two years these children start formal schooling and from then on they attend Quranic schools only during holidays and/or on weekends. In most cases, children sooner or later abandon either formal or Quranic school. Attending both schools in whatever arrangement, however, is only possible if both are available close to where the child lives and if the Quranic school is organized in a way that allows the students to attend formal school. Currently, there are four different types of daaras in Senegal: Village daaras, urban daaras, “modern” daaras and seasonal daaras. Village daaras are present in many Senegalese villages so that most children live at home with their families. These children often attend formal schools in the morning and the daara in the afternoon. In many urban daaras it is not unusual that talib´es from rural areas reside at the daara and assist the marabouts with different tasks. Traditionally, these residential daaras were located in rural areas and the marabout and his students made their living from tilling a plot but at some point yields had decreased too much and many marabouts moved to the towns and cities. The principal gainful activity then became begging for money and food. Begging children with rotten clothing today is an ordinary appearance of the streets in all bigger towns and cities. Of course, there are big differences in the way the marabouts treat their students, but some talib´es may also be subjected to exploitation and abuse. Modern daaras are government regulated Quranic schools that have introduced other subjects of formal schools in addition to memorizing the Quran and learning Arabic. In seasonal daaras marabouts and talib´es live in the cities during the dry season and return to the village during the rainy season. But this type of daaras barely exists anymore (Human Rights Watch, 2010). In (rural) areas not sufficiently covered by formal schools, basic community schools11 try to fill the gap. These schools are often organized by NGOs or by communal organizations supported by international organizations and try to teach the very basics, sometimes in local languages. Recently, Franco-Arabic schools have opened their doors and offer a combined curriculum of traditional islamic and secular education. Most often these schools are private schools and charge relatively high tuition fees. Some children have to work or help their families and can therefore not go to school. As already mentioned this depends a lot on the occupation of parents. For example, if parents live relatively close to a school and are involved in small scale trading or farming, they can introduce their children to their activities and make them help in the afternoons. Thus, at least out of periods of extensive work, children can go to school regularly. This is not possible for children of pastoralist families, where family members leave their homes for several days to find good pasture lands. Similarly, if no school is available where the family lives and children have to stay at another family’s place during the school year, they will not be able to help their family and cause higher costs (including direct costs for paying the host family). The principal of a rural school estimated that about five percent of the pupils were staying with relatives or another host family because their families lived too far away. Other parents argue that they were too poor to send their children to school. Teachers sometimes claim that (at least for the primary school level) it was rather the low commitment of parents than the economic situation that restrained the children from school attendance. Most students who miss school for longer periods do not return. A school principal reported a dropout rate of about two percent during a school year. 11Ecoles communautaires de base, ECB. 13 7 Conclusion Generally, school participation in Senegal has achieved a lot of progress in recent years. However, several problems remain to be tackled for further improvement. Still, too many children never attend a school. An even more severe problem is the high rate of drop outs, especially when it comes to the transition from primary to secondary school. Here, the national grade six exam, higher costs of schooling and still limited availability of secondary schools are the main barriers. As a result, only a fraction of children completes the ten years of compulsory schooling which is considered necessary to have superior job perspectives. Another issue regarding absenteeism or incomplete formal schooling is the popularity of Quranic education in Senegal. Many parents prioritize religious (esp. Quranic) studies and do not want their children to attend a formal school. In many cases, those who try to combine formal and religious schooling sooner or later have to decide on whether to drop one or the other. Despite the existence of differences between rural and urban milieus no substantial gender disparity can be observed at the primary school level. At the secondary school level, however, girls’ education perspectives worsen so that completion of ten years of schooling is even less likely for girls than for boys. While the quantity of enrolled children has undoubtedly risen during the past years, the development of school quality is more ambiguous. Many school buildings are in a bad condition and pedagogical material is often lacking or hardly usable. After the summer holidays many school facilities face damages due to heavy rainfalls which lead to delayed starts and many schools cannot afford the maintenance costs. The quality of classes itself suffers from too big class sizes, multigrade classes and irregular attendance of pupils. In summary it can be stated that primary school education in Senegal has achieved some noticeable improvements. However, high drop out rates and rivalry with Quranic schooling lead to a low percentage of students with completed secondary education or higher. Since it is expected that formal schooling only pays off in economic terms after at least ten years of education, the achievement of a higher share of students with completed secondary school should be a reasonable task. The purpose of further study will thus be to shed more light on some of the reasons preventing school enrollment and completion. One task will consist in identifying the reasons why many children are never enrolled in school. The research project will proceed with a household survey in the region of Saint-Louis. This region nearly reflects average educational figures of the whole country and is very diverse regarding geographical conditions, population density and economic activity of the population. Data from this survey will allow to disentangle the role of supply and demand sides. According to our expectations and impressions gained from the qualitative field work, even in areas where public schools are available and accessible, not all children are enrolled in school. For this group, parents might not see the benefit of attending formal school or might favor rival activities such as work or attendance of a religious school. A related question is whether school enrollment then depends primarily on household characteristics. Families of a certain educational level and of specific professions could be more prone to sending their children to school. On the other hand, there seems to be heterogeneity within households. We will have to study why some children attend school while their siblings do not. Reasons for the higher drop out rates of girls will also be subject to further study. 14 References Boubacar, N. and R. Fran¸cois (2007). Senegal country case study – Country profile prepared for the Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2007. 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R´epublique du S´en´egal, Secretariat du gouvernement (2005). Loi 2004-37 du 15 decembre 2004. Journal Officiel No. 6202. Service R´egional de la Statistique et de la D´emographie de Kaolack (2009). Situation ´economique et sociale de la r´egion de Kaolack de 2008. Service R´egional de la Statistique et de la D´emographie de Saint-Louis (2009). Situation ´economique et sociale de la r´egion de Saint-Louis de 2008. The World Bank (2011). International Comparison Program database. UN Cartographic Section (2004). Senegal no. 4174. Revised 3 January 2004. UNDP (2010). Human Development Report 2010. Palgrave Macmillan. UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) (2010a). UIS Statistics in Brief: Education in Senegal. http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/document.aspx?ReportId =289&IF Language=eng&BR Country=6860&BR Region=40540. UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) (2010b). UIS Statistics in Brief: Education in Sub-Saharan Africa. http://stats.uis.unesco.org/unesco/TableViewer/document.aspx ?ReportId=290&IF Language=eng&BR Region=40540. UNESCO International Bureau of Education (2007). World Data on Education. CD-Rom. 6th edition, 2006/07. UNICEF (2009). Factsheet Education Senegal. http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/senegal.html. Union Economique et Mon´etaire Ouest Africaine (UEMOA) (2007). Historique de l’UEMOA. http://www.uemoa.int/uemoa/historique.htm. 15 i Bisherige Veröffentlichungen in der Discussion Papers-Reihe No. 1 HERRMANN, R., KRAMB, M. C., MÖNNICH, Ch. (12.2000): Tariff Rate Quotas and the Economic Impacts of Agricultural Trade Liberalization in the WTO. (etwas revidierte Fassung erschienen in: "International Advances in Economic Research", Vol. 7 (2001), Nr. 1, S. 1-19.) No. 2 BOHNET, A., SCHRATZENSTALLER, M. (01.2001): Der Einfluss der Globalisierung auf staatliche Handlungsspielräume und die Zielverwirklichungsmöglichkeiten gesellschaftlicher Gruppen. (erschienen in: "List-Forum für Wirtschaftsund Finanzpolitik", Bd. 27(2001), H. 1, S. 1-21.) No. 3 KRAMB, M. C. (03.2001): Die Entscheidungen des "Dispute Settlement"- Verfahrens der WTO im Hormonstreit zwischen der EU und den USA – Impli kationen für den zukünftigen Umgang mit dem SPS-Abkommen. (überarbeitete Fassung erschienen in: "Agrarwirtschaft", Jg. 50, H. 3, S. 153-157.) No. 4 CHEN, J., GEMMER, M., TONG, J., KING, L., METZLER, M. (08.2001): Visualisation of Historical Flood and Drought Information (1100-1940) for the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River Valley, P.R. China. (erschienen in: Wu et al. (eds) Flood Defence '2002, Beijing, New York 2002, pp. 802-808.) No. 5 SCHROETER, Ch. (11.2001): Consumer Attitudes towards Food Safety Risks Associated with Meat Processing. (geänderte und gekürzte Fassung ist erschienen unter Christiane SCHROETER, Karen P. PENNER, John A. FOX unter dem Titel "Consumer Perceptions of Three Food Safety Interventions Related to Meat Processing" in "Dairy, Food and Environmental Sanitation", Vol. 21, No. 7, S. 570-581.) No. 6 MÖNNICH, Ch. (12.2001): Zollkontingente im Agrarsektor: Wie viel Liberalisie rungsfortschritt? Ergebnisse und Diskussion einer Auswertung der EU-Daten. (gekürzte Fassung erschienen in BROCKMEIER, M., ISERMEYER, F., von CRA MON-TAUBADEL, S. (Hrsg.), Liberalisierung des Weltagrarhandels - Strategien und Konsequenzen. "Schriften der Gesellschaft für Wirtschaftsund Sozialwissenschaften des Landbaues e.V.", Bd. 37(2002), S. 51-59.) ii No. 7 RUBIOLO, M. (01.2002): EU and Latin America: Biregionalism in a Globalizing World? No. 8 GAST, M. (02.2002): Zollkontingente bei US-amerikanischen Käseimporten. (gekürzte Fassung erschienen in: "Agrarwirtschaft", Jg. 51, H. 4, S. 192-202.) No. 9 BISCHOFF, I. (08.2002): Efficiency-enhancing Effects of Private and Collective Enterprises in Transitional China. No. 10 KÖTSCHAU, K. M., PAWLOWSKI, I., SCHMITZ, P. M. (01.2003): Die Policy Ana lysis Matrix (PAM) als Instrument zur Messung von Wettbewerbsfähigkeit und Politikeinfluss - Zwischen Theorie und Praxis: Das Fallbeispiel einer ukraini schen Molkerei. No. 11 HERRMANN, R., MÖSER A. (06.2003): Price Variability or Rigidity in the Foodretailing Sector? Theoretical Analysis and Evidence from German Scanner Data. No. 12 TROUCHINE, A. (07.2003): Trinkwasserversorgung und Armut in Kasachstan: Aktueller Zustand und Wechselwirkungen. No. 13 WANG, R.; GIESE, E.; GAO, Q. (08.2003): Seespiegelschwankungen des Bosten-Sees (VR China). No. 14 BECKER, S.; GEMMER, M.; JIANG, T.; KE, CH.. (08.2003): 20th Century Precipitation Trends in the Yangtze River Catchment. No. 15 GEMMER, M.; BECKER, S.; JIANG, T (11. 2003): Detection and Visualisation of Climate Trends in China. No. 16 MÖNNICH, Ch. (12.2003): Tariff Rate Quotas: Does Administration Matter? No. 17 GIESE, E.; MOßIG. I. (03.2004) Klimawandel in Zentralasien No. 18 GIESE, E.; SEHRING, J. TROUCHINE, A. (05.2004) Zwischenstaatliche Wassernutzungskonflikte in Zentralasien iii No. 19 DIKICH, A. N. (09.2004) Gletscherwasserressourcen der Issyk-Kul-Region (Kirgistan), ihr gegenwärtiger und zukünftiger Zustand No. 20 Christiansen, Th.; Schöner, U. (11.2004) Irrigation Areas and Irrigation Water Consumption in the Upper Ili Catchment, NW-China No. 21 NARIMANIDZE, E. et al. (04.2005) Bergbaubedingte Schwermetallbelastungen von Böden und Nutzpflanzen in einem Bewässerungsgebiet südlich von Tiflis/Georgien - Ausmaß, ökologische Bedeutung, Sanierungsstrategien No. 22 ROMANOVSKIJ, V.V.; KUZ’MIČENOK, V.A. (06.2005) Ursachen und Auswirkungen der Seespiegelschwankungen des Issyk-Kul’ in jüngerer Zeit No. 23 ZITZMANN, K.; TROUCHINE, A. (07.2005) Die Landwirtschaft Zentralasiens im Transformationsprozess (nicht mehr lieferbar!) No. 24 SEHRING, J. (08.2005) Water User Associations (WUAs) in Kyrgyzstan - A Case Study on Institutional Reform in Local Irrigation Management No. 25 GIESE, E., MAMATKANOV, D. M. und WANG, R. (08.2005) Wasserressourcen und Wassernutzung im Flussbecken des Tarim (Autonome Region Xinjiang / VR China) No. 26 MOSSIG, I., RYBSKY, D. (08.2005) Die Erwärmung bodennaher Luftschichten in Zentralasien. Zur Problematik der Bestimmung von Trends und Langzeitkorrelationen No. 27 GAST, M.: (09.2005) Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment of OECD Countries 1991-2001 No. 28 GIESE, E., TROUCHINE, A. (01.2006) Aktuelle Probleme der Energiewirtschaft und Energiepolitik in Zentralasien No. 29 SEHRING, J. (06.2006) The Politics of Irrigation Reform in Tajikistan iv No. 30 LANGENOHL, A. / WESTPHAL, K. (11.2006) Comparing and Inter-Relating the European Union and the Russian Fede ration. Viewpoints from an international and interdisciplinary students' project No. 31 WEBER, S./ ANDERS, S. (3.2007) Price Rigidity and Market Power in German Retailing No. 32 GAVARDASHVILI, G. / SCHAEFER, M. / KING, L. (8.2007) Debris Flows at the River Mletis Khevi (Greater Caucasus Mountains, Georgia) and its Assessment Methods No. 33 TEUBER, R. (5.2007) Geographical Indications of Origin as a Tool of Product Differentiation – The Case of Coffee D No. 34 DOSTAJ, Ž. D. (in Zusammenarbeit mit E. Giese und W. Hagg) (6.2007) Wasserressourcen und deren Nutzung im Ili-Balchaš Becken No. 35 FLATAU, J./ Hart, V. / KAVALLARI, A./ SCHMITZ, P.M. (7.2007) Supply Chain Analysis of Olive Oil in Germany No. 36 HART, V. / KAVALLARI, A. / SCHMITZ, P.M. / WRONKA, T. (7.2007) Supply Chain Analysis of Fresh Fruit and Vegetables in Germany No. 37 MÖSER, N. (7.2008) Analyse der Präferenzen russischer Fachbesucher für ausgewählte Messeleistungen mit Hilfe der Choice-Based Conjoint-Analyse No. 38 BISCHOFF, I. / EGBERT, H. (8.2008) Bandwagon voting or false-consensus effect in voting experiments? First results and methodological limits No. 39 BREDL, S. / WINKER, P. / KÖTSCHAU, K. (12.2008) A Statistical Approach to Detect Cheating Interviewers No. 40 HERRMANN, R. / MÖSER, A./ WEBER, S. (01.2009) Grocery Retailing in Poland: Development and Foreign Direct Investment No. 41 HERRMANN, R. / MÖSER, A./ WEBER, S. (02.2009) Grocery Retailing in Germany: Situation, Development and Pricing Strategies