Education for Children in Sub-Saharan Africa: Predictors impacting school attendance

The Education for All (EFA) and Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are major campaigns on closing gaps on educational disparities. This study (N=124.592) examined the impact of these campaigns over eight years from five sub-Saharan African countries. Findings show that considerable progress has been made to close the disparity based on orphan status, and the gender gap is also closing. However, poverty remains a challenge across all variables, and there are pockets of gender disparity for both boys and girls, particularly in areas where deeply rooted cultural and child raising patterns are retained. Most alarmingly, children who live with non-relatives have the lowest attendance rate. Continued efforts to target these groups of children and their households are urged, as well as research on the underserved.