The Comparative Functionality of Formal and Non-Formal Education for Women: Final Report.

Overview & Synopsis

This final report describes a five-phase study to ascertain whether formal or non-formal education has the greater functionality to accelerate women's integration into development activities. Part 1 (two chapters), introduction and background, defines the problem, sets parameters of the study, and provides definitions of education terms. Part 2 (three chapters) examines the history of United States education and schooling in colonial Africa to gain historic perspective. Focus is on female edocation in nineteenth-century America, the rise of the common school, and colonial education in Africa. Part 3 (two chapters) overviews formal and nonformal education and discusses the status of women and education. Part 4 (four chapters) examines three types of education functionality (social, economic, and demographic) and analyzes each for formal and non-formal education. It concludes with a summary of functionalities and dysfunctionalities. Part 5 (three chapters) explores constraints of the political environment and speculates about possible outcomes of a major investment in female education. Again, the focus is sub-Saharan Africa. Part 6 (four chapters) offers recommendations for actions to attack the problem of female under-education. The final part summarizes major study findings and concludes with observations on the current relationship of education and women in development efforts. (YLB)