Intersectionality of Education and Economics affecting Literacy Rates of Women in Mali
The research of uncovering the cause of gender biased literacy rates in Mali is a difficult task even though the statistics clearly show that men are more literate than women. By most accounts the literacy rate of adults in Mali as of 2005 is 24% with over half of this percentage being men (Mali-Statistics). Furthermore, children ages 15-24 have a gender-divided literacy rate as well. Male youth has a literacy rate of 32% when female youth has a rate of 17% (Mali-Statistics). I think it is important to note that in my research, some documents from Mali quote the literacy rate of “pupils” and not dividing into male or female or stating that normally only one “member” of the family is fluent in French and not stating if that member is male or female. The words of Cynthia Enloe ring clear as she reminds us each to be a “curious feminist;” using the feminist tools provided by Enloe and various authors over the course of the semester, I choose to look deeper into just what is reported to find the underlying causes of this divide among gender.
The first place to look is the education of Malians. Education in Mali is not free; even after the shift to provided primary schooling for children up to age nine, the families still must provide the desks, chalk, chairs, and make monthly contributions (Dall p.7) The enrollment rate of school age children from primary to secondary school drops dramatically. As of 2006, 74% of male children and 59% of female children were enrolled in primary school. In secondary school 29% of males and 18% of females were enrolled (Mali-Statistics). Some claim the worsening economic situation is forcing parents to withdraw their daughters from school to help with domestic chores while both parents try to provide enough to keep the family alive (Dall). Cynthia Enloe would encourage us to as why this is- why are the girls the first to have their education taken away? I believe this is where tradition and culture come into play.
The education situation in Mali is not as grim as it seems by the statistics. The numbers have risen slightly and almost steadily over the years. Strides are being made in the right direction towards making education more accessible to children of all economic backgrounds; however there is much more work to be done. One example of this work is not on the focus of education of children but focused on adult literacy rates. There are a few adult-women literacy programs present in Mali because the UNESCO chose Mali to be a country of study in their Experimental World Literacy Program beginning in 1968 (Barka p.16). They strive to increase literacy rates in women, thereby increasing their socio-economic situation by increasing their chances of getting a better paying job (Puchner 2003 p.441).
In researching the education Malians, I find it very difficult to separate their education from their socio-economic backgrounds. Mali is among the poorest countries of the world, and education seems second to providing food for one’s family. I am still trying to research further into the background of Mali’s economic situation and why it is so bad if they are in the top two leading producers of cotton in Africa (Smith p.286).
I realize that I have much more to research, but my hypothesis is that the intersections of economic situations and the traditions of culture in Mali are the key to why the literacy rate of women is so low and can also be the key to reversing the problem. I would like to further explore these dynamics through the availability of prior research using statistics and narratives of Malian women.
I believe that this aspect of non-literate women could be one of many forms of discrimination of women. The main language of Mali is French, and the political structure is based in the French language (Mali-Statistics). If the women, for one reason or another, are unable to communicate or read government policies, how are they expected to be able to have an impact on their political or economic situation?
Works Cited
Barka, L.B. “Women Literacy Program in Mali.” Journal of the African Association for Literacy and Adult Education 6 (1992): 15-27.
Dall, Frank. “A Problem of Gender Access and Primary Education: A Mali Case Study.” HID Research Review: Research Findings of The Harvard Institute for International Development 2 (1989): 6-7.
“Mali-Statistics.” UNICEF. 4 Nov. 2008 <http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/mali_statistics.html>.
Puchner, Laurel. “Researching Women’s Literacy in Mali: A Case Study of Dialogue among Researchers, Practitioners, and Policy Makers.” Comparative Education Review 45 (2001): 242-56.
—“Women and Literacy in Rural Mali: a Study of the Socio-economic Impact of Participating in Literacy Programs in Four Villages.” International Journal of Educational Development 23 (2003): 439-458.
Smith, Alex D. “Innovations in Mali.” Review of African Political Economy 25 (1998): 285-87.
