Zambezia (2000), XXVII 00-EFFECTS OF THE ECONOMIC STRUCTURALADJUSTMENT PROGRAMME (1991-1993) ON THEPARTICIPATION OF SECONDARY SCHOOL GIRLS INZIMBABWEROSELYN D. MAKONIDepartment of Educational Administration, University of ZimbabweAbstractPre- and post-1991 data on variables such as school enrolments, dropoutrates, Zimbabwe junior certificate and 'O level examination entries werecompared on the basis of gender and tested to determine the effects of theEconomic Structural Adjustment Programme (ESAP) on secondary schoolgirls. The results of this study show that there were statistically significantdifferences in the enrolment rates of boys and girls, a widening genderdisparity in dropout rates as well as statistically significant differences in thenumber of boys and girls failing to pay W level examination fees after theintroduction of ESAP. Given the thrust of the study and the nature of thefindings, the study recommended that there be differential policies to cushionurban and rural girls. If such policies which are gender sensitive are to beinstituted, then there is need to offer intensive gender training and awarenessto gender structuring for all policy makers and all school administrators as away of facilitating gender equity. The study also recommended furtherresearch to isolate the factors, which cause households to discriminateagainst girls when allocating educational chances.BACKGROUNDWhen Zimbabwe attained independence in 1980, the governmentcommitted itself to the provision of universal free primary education anda massive expansion of secondary education. At the secondary schoollevel enrolment rose by 950.5% while secondary schools increased by838% from 177 schools in 1979 to 1 484 in 1989, ten years afterindependence (Nhundu, 1992, 81). An increase in the national teacher-pupil ratio, from 1:36 before independence to a ratio of 1:45 afterindependence, reflects government's commitment to increasing accessto education. However, this global increase in secondary school enrolmentfigures does not reflect possible gender disparities. On the contrary, theproportion of girls decreased by 1.51%, from 43.31% in 1980 to 41 80% in1988.221222 ESAP AND THE PARTICIPATION OF SECONDARY SCHOOL GIRLSThis impressive expansion, together with that of primary and tertiaryeducation, had serious consequences on government funding policies.Government expenditure on education rose by 414% between 1980 and1990. During the same period the annual outlay on education as aproportion of total government expenditure, rose from 14.8% to 23.1%(Nhundu, 1992,92). Clearly, this level of expenditure could not be sustainedgiven the unfavourable economic growth experienced from the mid-1980s.For example, economic growth which was projected at 5.1% for theperiod 1986-1990 fell to 3.2%, while the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for1992 fell by 8%. It is against this background of poor economic performancethat government was eventually forced to seek World Bank andInternational Monetary Fund (IMF) support towards economicrevitalisation. World Bank prescriptions through the so-called economicstructural adjustment programme had significant implications on thefinancing of education and the participation in education of various sub-groups of students. It is in this connection that the present study soughtto investigate the effects of the economic structural adjustmentprogramme (1991-1993) on the participation of secondary school girls inZimbabwe.Education against the backdrop of an Economic StructuralAdjustment ProgrammeA review of existing literature clearly shows that when governmentsexperience economic hardships, such as those experienced in Zimbabwe,the educational sector often takes the brunt of cost-cutting measuresdirected at alleviating the budget deficit. At the same time, the consumerends up shouldering a greater proportion of the costs for education aspart of cost-sharing initiatives. The literature also further shows thateconomic adjustment programmes are often implemented at great costto education because of the reduced education budget. For example, astudy on the social effects of the Mexican debt crisis reported thateducation was one of the hardest hit sectors. The results of this analysis,as reported by Dieguez cited by Reimers (1991, 321), show that between1982 -1983, when Mexico failed to meet its debt obligations, its educationalexpenditure fell from 5.5% to 3.9% of GDP and from 9.3% to 7.9% of thetotal government budget. In another report, Vedova (1986, 7) reports thatduring the 1981/1982 Costa Rican economic crisis, dropout rates increasedand enrolment rates decreased. Meanwhile, Psacharopoulos and Steier(1987, 3), who directly examined the hypothesis that high debt-servicepayments result in reduction of public expenditure on long-gestationsocial investments like education, concluded that all 125 countries whichthey had studied had experienced a decline in the investment ofgovernment expenditure on education.R. D. MAKONI 223The World Bank (1988, 93) and Thobani (1984, 419) support the viewthat much of the burden for financing education should be shifted toconsumers and argue that the introduction of user charges will generateadditional resources for the expansion of the secondary school sectorand, at the same time, result in improved efficiency and equity of theeducation system. However, it is important to acknowledge a contraryview, which asserts that introducing user fees is likely to result in increaseddisparities in the provision of education because of variable communityand parental resource bases. In this connection, poorer communities andfamilies may end up receiving an inferior education, while some childrenmay eventually drop out of school due to inability of parents to pay userfees. For developing countries like Zimbabwe, where the majority ofpeople live in rural areas, the introduction of government scholarshipsand grants as suggested by Thobani (1984, 419) may not ameliorate thesituation because of the large numbers of children in need of suchassistance. Apart from disparities that may arise because of variableresource bases of communities and households, further inequalities maybe experienced because of other disadvantaged groups in society suchas women.This concern is particularly pertinent to the current study, whichsought to investigate the effects of the structural adjustment programmeimposed by the World Bank on the participation of secondary schoolgirls in Zimbabwe. This is a legitimate subject for investigation given thatgirls are already a disadvantaged group in society who may be moreexposed to the deleterious effects of economic adjustment programmesthan boys. The potential harm of these World Bank initiated programmeson the girl child have been acknowledged by Hyde (1989,129) who arguesthat, "the package of structural adjustment policies being advocated bythe World Bank and the International Monetary Fund for many Africancountries could have some negative consequences for women'seducation". According to Hyde (1989, 130), when more of the cost ofeducation is shifted to the students' families, the strong consumptionaspect of Western education for girls at secondary and tertiary levels willdiscourage many parents from keeping their daughters in school. Hence,in some developing countries like Zimbabwe where primary schoolenrolment is universal, sharing educational costs at the secondary schoollevel often leads to financial constraints which may influence manyhouseholds to make decisions that adversely affect the participation ofthe girl child in secondary level education.RESEARCH METHODThe effects of the Economic Structural Adjustment Programme weredetermined by examining such variables as school enrolments, dropout224 ESAP AND THE PARTICIPATION OF SECONDARY SCHOOL GIRLSrates as well as public examination entries. The study looked at thesevariables over a given time frame, pre- and post-1991. Any significantdifference in the participation rates of boys and girls between the twoperiods was attributable to the effect of ESAP. The following hypotheseswere generated and tested in this study:1. There is a significant widening gender disparity in secondary schoolenrolment since the introduction of the Economic StructuralAdjustment Programme.2. There is a significant difference in the number of girls and boysdropping out of school at secondary school level as a result of theEconomic Structural Adjustment Programme.3. There is a significant difference in the number of girls and boys notregistering to sit for the Zimbabwe Junior Certificate and '0' Levelexaminations before and after the introduction of cost recoverymeasures in education.The respondents for this study were 66 school heads drawn from thepopulation of 220 secondary schools in Harare and Mashonaland Westregions. From each of the two selected regions of Harare and MashonalandWest, a proportionate number of schools was randomly selected. Forty-five secondary schools were therefore drawn from Mashonaland Westand 21 from Harare. Stratified random sampling was used in order to geta cross-section of all sub-groups of schools, which included urban andrural schools, former Group A, B and C schools, and government, urbanmunicipal council, rural district council, church and independent privateschools. The sample distribution of respondents appears in Table 1.RESULTSEnrolment patternsIn the four years under study (1990-1993), enrolment statistics show thatthere were more boys than girls enrolled in both Harare and MashonalandWest regions. Table 2 below gives gender disparity patterns in favour ofenrolments of boys.This shows that in 1991, when cost recovery measures were firstintroduced, there was a slight decline in the enrolment figures for girlscompared to those for 1990, while those for boys increased. There was a0.47% decrease in the 1991 enrolment figure for girls yet that of boysincreased by 1.88% in the same year with the highest discrepancy betweenthe enrolment for boys and girls being in 1991. This result is particularlydisturbing because it shows a worsening of an already bad situation,where gender disparity in secondary school enrolments worsens yet the1992 population census results show that there were more girls thanboys in this age group.R. D. MAKONI 225Table 1DISTRIBUTION OF SCHOOLS ACCORDING TO BACKGROUND VARIABLES(N= 46)Variable Frequency PercentageSchools by RegionHarare RegionMashonaland West RegionSchools by SettingRural SchoolsUrban SchoolsSchools by TypeFormer Group AFormer Group BFormer Group CSchools by Responsible AuthorityGovernment SchoolsRural district council schoolsUrban municipal schoolsIndependent private schoolsMission schoolsTable 21990-1993 ANNUAL DISTRIBUTION OF ENROLMENT BY GENDER. (N=169 486)Gender Enrolment TotalYear Male Female Discrepancy EnrolmentNo. % No. % No. % No. %1990 23 522 56.01 18 472 43.99 5 050 12.02 42 044 100.001991 24 015 56.64 18 386 43.36 5 629 13.28 42 401 100.001992 23 715 56.30 18 404 43.70 5 311 12.60 42 119 100.001993 23 522 54.80 19 400 45.20 4 122 9.60 42 922 100.00Total 94 824 55.95 74 662 44.05 20 162 11.90 169 486 100.00182818285374251414239.160.939.160.910.980.48.754.330.42.28.74.3226 ESAP AND THE PARTICIPATION OF SECONDARY SCHOOL GIRLSHowever, enrolment alone is not a sufficient and accurate measure ofstudent participation unless it is adjusted for dropouts. This adjustmentappears in Table 3 below, which shows net enrolment figures (that istotal enrolment less total dropouts). Table 3 shows that total net enrolmentfor both boys and girls decreased from 40 556 in 1990 to 39 413 in 1992, a2.8% drop.Table 31990-1992 ANNUAL NET ENROLMENT FIGURES (N=120 542)Girls199019911992Total GirlsBoys199019911992Total BoysEnrolment18 47218 38618 40455 26223 52224 01523 71571 252Dropouts834107915853 4986047491 1212 474NetEnrolment17 63817 30716 8195176422 91823 26622 59468 778% Increase/Decrease-1.87-2.82-4.69+1.52-2.89-1.37However, a closer examination of the net enrolment patterns of thetwo sub-groups shows that the net enrolment for girls went down by4.69% while, during the same period, that for boys declined by only1.37%. Meanwhile, the respective annual percentage dropout rates forgirls for 1990,1991 and 1992 were 1.99%, 2.54% and 3.76%, compared withcorresponding dropout rates for boys of 1.44%, 1.77% and 2.66%respectively. These data clearly show that annual dropout rates for girlsfor the period 1990-1992 were twice those for boys. This demonstratesthat gender disparity in secondary school participation has steadilywidened during this period, with the girl child experiencing higher dropoutrates than boys.To find out whether the observed disparity in participation ratesbetween boys and girls was significant, a t-test analysis was computed totest hypothesis 1: There is a significant widening gender disparity inenrolment since the introduction of the Economic Structural AdjustmentProgramme. Using a critical value of 0.05, a two-tailed t-test analysis wasR. D. MAKONI 227computed using enrolment figures for boys and girls for 1990, before theintroduction of cost recovery measures, and 1992, after the measureshad been instituted which produced statistically significant p-values of0.04 and 0.05 respectively. On the basis of this finding, Hypothesis 1 wasaccepted at the 5% level.The results suggest that although there were significant differencesin participation rates between boys and girls, both before and after ESAPwas in place, girls appear to have been slightly more disadvantaged priorto the introduction of ESAP. The difference in participation rates betweenboys and girls may not be as significant in 1992 when compared to thatfor 1990 because, as indicated in Table 2, gross enrolment figures forboys started falling in 1992 as a result of ESAP while those for girlsindicated a slight increase. Hence, the results in Table 4 suggest thatthere may be some factors other than ESAP alone, which might havecontributed to the observed downward movement in the participationrates of girls in the later period.DropoutsAs indicated in Table 3, of the 5 972 students who dropped out between1990 and 1992, 3 498 (58.57%) were girls while the corresponding figurefor boys was 2 474 (41.43%), clearly showing that girls experienced greaterwastage than boys. Meanwhile in 1990, 58% of dropouts reported in thisstudy were girls and 42% were boys, although girls comprised only 43.99%of the total student enrolment for 1990. Similarly girl dropouts comprised59.03% and 58.57% of the total dropouts for 1991 and 1992, respectivelyalthough they constituted 43.36% and 43.70% of the total student enrolmentfor the respective years. This further confirms that girls experiencedhigher dropout rates than boys did during the period under investigation.According to the findings of this study, 16%, 18.06% and 17.14% moregirls than boys dropped out of school in 1990,1991 and 1992 respectively.This also shows that, when compared to boys, the extent to which girls inthe research sample were dropping out of school was increasing in bothabsolute and relative percentage terms. Thus, while enrolments wereincreasing, they were increasing at a slower rate than dropouts, indicatingnet loss.Accordingly, a t-test analysis (p = 0.05) was used to test hypothesis 2which states that, There is a significant difference in the number of girlsand boys dropping out of school at secondary school level as a result of theEconomic Structural Adjustment Programme. The analysis was carried outusing 1990 and 1992 dropout figures for boys and girls. Since cost recoverymeasures were introduced in schools in 1991 as part of the ESAP package,1990 dropout figures represent the pre-ESAP dropout status while thosefor 1992 should reflect the contribution of ESAP to the dropout228 ESAP AND THE PARTICIPATION OF SECONDARY SCHOOL GIRLSphenomenon. Using a critical value of 0.05, the results of a 2-tailed t-testanalysis computed to explore the nature of differences in dropout ratesfor boys and girls for 1990 and 1992 produced statistically significantdifferences at p-values 0.006 and 0.000, respectively.The results of this analysis show that both pre- and post-ESAPdifferences in dropout rates between boys and girls were significant evenbeyond the 1% level. This shows that there were statistically significantdifferences in dropout rates between boys and girls both before and afterthe introduction of ESAP. Although the level of disparity in participationrates between boys and girls was relatively more significant after theintroduction of cost recovery measures, the hypothesis was acceptedsince there was a statistically significant difference between the dropoutrates of boys and girls before and after the introduction of ESAP. However,the fact that differences in participation rates were relatively moresignificant during the post-ESAP period may suggest that ESAPcompounded the already bad problem of high female dropout rates.A comparative analysis was carried out to determine whether during1990-1992 (a) the pattern of dropout rates for the Harare region, apredominantly urban area, and Mashonaland West region, a predominantlyrural area, were different and (b) the nature of influence of ESAP on themagnitude of dropout rates for both regions. For three years commencingin 1990, both regions experienced a sustained increase in dropout rates.The most dramatic increase in student dropout rates irrespective of theregion was experienced in 1992 when the average percentage increase indropout rates was 47.45%. Inter-regional disparities in dropout ratesindicate that the Harare region experienced larger increases in dropoutrates than the Mashonaland West region. For example, the dropout ratefor Harare region for 1991 increased by 33.6% (from 812 in 1990 to 1 085 in1991), while that for 1992 went up by as much as 50.4% for the previousyear. This compares with corresponding dropout rates for MashonalandWest region, which registered 18.7% and 44.5% for 1991 and 1992,respectively. However, it is worth noting that even though the rate forMashonaland West was not as high as that for Harare region, thepercentage increase on the dropout rate more than doubled in 1992, oneyear after cost recovery measures were introduced.The nature of the relationship between dependant and independentvariablesThe study used a Pearson correlation analysis to investigate the nature ofthe relationship between dropout rates and selected independentvariables; namely, examination fees (for both Zimbabwe Junior Certificate(ZJC) and ('O' Level), and the inability to pay for a full complement ofexaminable subjects. These three independent variables reflect greaterR. D. MAKONI 229demand imposed on parents to meet the cost of education following theintroduction of ESAP-induced cost recovery measures. Since the resultsof this correlation analysis have implications for the participation of girlsowing to financial hardships associated with the introduction of ESAP in1991, the correlation analysis, which appears in Table 4 below, wascomputed using data for 1990 and 1992. The two periods were selected inorder to allow for a comparative analysis of the nature of the relationshipbefore and after the introduction of ESAP in 1991.Table 4PEARSON PRODUCT CORRELATION COEFFICIENT ANALYSES OF BOYSAND GIRLS DROPOUT RATES FOR 1990/1992 WITH LACK OF ZJC AND'0' LEVEL EXAMINATION FEES AND INABILITY TO PAY FOR A FULLCOMPLEMENT OF EXAMINATION SUBJECTS (N = 4 144)FactorNo ZJC feesNo '0' level feesFees for fewer exams* = significance at 0.051990Boys0.01590.14840.4784*Girls0.3981*0.2897*0.17391992Boys0.3725*0. 3696*0.0264Girls0.3362*0.4003*0.0431From the results of this analysis, larger correlation coefficients indicatestronger relationships and low values suggest weak relationships.Coefficients of above 0.5 were considered to be strong, those above 0.3were moderately strong and anything below that to be weak. Thecorrelation coefficients obtained were generally positive indicating thatthe variables varied in the same direction, such that, an increase in say,non-payment of 'O' Level examination fees was accompanied by acorresponding increase in dropouts.Of the 12 correlation co-efficients appearing in Table 4 above, sevenproduced statistically significant coefficients (p = 0.05) and four of theseconcerned girls while three were for boys. It further shows that there wasa statistically significant correlation between girls dropping out and non-payment of ZJC examination fees, both before and after the introductionof ESAP. The relationship between the same variables for boys was onlysignificant after, and not before the introduction of ESAP. Similarly, therelationship between non-payment of '0' Level examination fees anddropping out of boys and girls before and after the introduction of ESAPwas the same as that obtained for non-payment of ZJC examination fees.These results show that the introduction of ESAP in 1991 affected droppingout of boys due to non-payment of ZJC and 'O* Level examination fees,230 ESAP AND THE PARTICIPATION OF SECONDARY SCHOOL GIRLSwhile girls were as much affected before and after the introduction ofESAP. This indicates the greater vulnerability of the girl child comparedto boys. In addition, while the relationship between dropout rates forgirls and non-payment of '0' Level fees produces significant correlationco-efficients both before and after the introduction of ESAP, the co-efficient for 1990 (r=0.2897) indicates a weak relationship while that for1992 (r=0.4003) is moderately strong. This may suggest that theintroduction of ESAP may have led to more girls dropping out of school.On the other hand, this finding also suggests that there may be otherfactors, apart from ESAP, which may account for why non-payment ofpublic examination fees remained significantly correlated to droppingout of girls only (and not boys) prior to the introduction of ESAP.The results concerning the relationship between inability to pay for afull complement of examinable subjects with dropping out for both boysand girls are unclear. For example, a significant relationship betweeninability to pay for a full complement of examinable subjects and droppingout was obtained for boys only before and not after the introduction ofESAP. One would have expected a significant association between inabilityto pay for a full complement of examinable subjects and dropping outafter the introduction of ESAP and cost recovery measures and not theother way.Examination feesMost heads of schools who were interviewed indicated that when studentswho had enrolled in an examination class failed to pay the required fees,it was normally a result of poverty. Data on non-payment of examinationfees indicated that in 1990, as many as 24 (52.18%) school heads in thesample reported cases of non-payment. The number of school heads whoreported this problem for 1991 increased to 35 (76.09%) and by 1992 theproblem had become very pervasive. As many as 40 (86.96%) schoolheads reported dealing with a high incidence of failure to pay examinationfees. However, these percentages do not reflect the actual number ofstudents who failed to pay examination fees, but the number of schoolheads who reported handling cases of students who were experiencingproblems paying examination fees.The study, therefore, sought to further determine whether the problemof non-payment of examination fees varied between boys and girls andwhether such variations were associated with the introduction of ESAP.The data collected was subjected to a t-test analysis in order to testhypothesis 3 which states that, There is a significant difference in thenumber of girls and boys not registering to sit for the Zimbabwe JuniorCertificate and 'O' Level examinations during the period before and after theintroduction of cost recovery measures in education.R. D. MAKONI 231The results of the t-test analysis showed that there was no significantdifference in the number of boys and girls not registering to sit for theZJC examinations in both periods. This shows that households are payingfees equally for boys and girls, most likely because the fee of Z$5.00 persubject is affordable to most. Since the fee is low, the households are notforced to make a choice between the two sexes. However, results showthat significant differences were obtained in the number of boys and girlsnot registering to sit the '0' Level examinations in both 1990 and 1992.This shows that ESAP accounted for the increase in the difference ofability to pay fees between boys and girls.Even though the difference was significant after ESAP, the biggermean difference for girls in the period before the introduction of costrecovery measures indicates that girls were affected more than boyswere in both periods. The significance of the difference in the period afterESAP can be attributed to the negative effects of cost recovery measures.Families seem unwilling to pay examination fees for girls at the same rateas they do for boys.DISCUSSIONThe results of this study show that there were not only fewer girls insecondary school compared to boys, but that the gender disparity hassteadily widened following the introduction of ESAP. Before theintroduction of the economic structural adjustment programme thesituation of fewer females participating at secondary school level hadbeen improving (even at the 43.99% rate indicated for 1990). Thisimprovement can be attributed to various government policies enactedat independence in 1980.The policy on mass education went a long way in improving femaleparticipation at secondary school because it led to the reopening Ofschools which had been closed during the war, the construction of moreschools as well as the expansion of existing ones. This strategy, which,resulted in increased numbers of secondary school places, removed thebottlenecks of the colonial period, resulting in there being proportionatelymore places for girls to compete for.Over-age students were allowed to come back to school, and publiQexamination results at grade seven ceased to be terminal. This uninhibitedaccess to secondary school led to the achievement of 100% transitionrate between the two levels of primary to secondary school. It was theenactment of such government policies, which had resulted in theenrolment of girls at secondary school rising steadily. It is worth notingthat in spite of all these policy initiatives, there were factors, which stiljprevented parity at the secondary school level. The primary schoo}232 ESAP AND THE PARTICIPATION OF SECONDARY SCHOOL GIRLSenrolment for girls responded better to these same initiatives and heldsteady at around 49%. The major policy difference was that while primaryeducation was termed free, secondary education was not. The fees payableat secondary school could be the main factor that blocked femalesecondary school enrolments from rising to near parity with their malecounterparts. The other factor is that in cases where there are notenough financial resources to go round, households in patriarchalsocieties, such as in Zimbabwe, tend to first allocate these life (schooling)chances to their sons. Households express definite preferences ineducating boys as reported by Nkinyangi (1982) who explained that incases where school fees have been instituted, parents who could notafford the fees sacrifice the participation of their daughters for theirsons.This denial of a secondary school education to such a large percentageof female children denies them not only their human right to an education,but their right to equal life chances and the chance to develop to their fullpotential. The government's goals of development cannot be attainedwith a large number of females not participating fully in development.The findings of this study show that improvements, which had beenachieved in female participation at secondary school level, may beundermined as a result of cost recovery measures, which came withESAP. The deleterious effects of ESAP and related economic policies onthe participation of girls in education were reported earlier by Hyde(1989). Clearly this has been supported by the findings of this study,which show that the participation rate of girls declined more from 1991(when ESAP was introduced). The total percentage decrease of girls'enrolments between 1991 and 1992 was found to be three times morethan that of boys. Hence, if nothing is done to cushion such negativeeffects, the participation of girls will continue to be severely affected.The results of this study also showed that since cost recoverymeasures were introduced in 1991, more girls than boys dropped out ofsecondary school. This is a disturbing finding given that prior to 1991participation rates for girls were already lower than for boys as a result ofseveral factors cited earlier. However, a two-tailed t-test statistical analysiscomputed to determine whether the introduction of ESAP resulted insignificant differences in participation rates between boys and girls didproduce statistically significant differences in both periods, although thelevel of significance was much higher in the period after ESAP wasintroduced. This is an indication that the implemented government policiesfailed to discriminate between boys and girls such that girls remainedvulnerable in spite of the policies instituted at independence. Accordingto the findings of this study in respect of participation rates, there areimplications for policy makers. The study offers challenges for policyR. D. MAKONI 233makers to bring policies which address the needs of the girl child ratherthan needs of children in general.The findings indicate that there were more students dropping out ofHarare region, a predominantly urban region, than from the more ruralMashonaland West region. This should be expected since ESAP oftenbrings more hardships to urban families because of the nature of urb^nlife which is relatively more expensive. The introduction of ESAP did notonly result in the introduction of cost recovery measures in education; italso led to the removal of the provision of full social services, the removalof price controls and subsidies on consumer products, unemploymentand retrenchments. In addition, urban families also faced higher ratesand other fee increases in 1991 unlike the rural communities. At the sametime, urban families face additional hardships owing to a differential feestructure, which levies higher school fees to urban schools therebyfurther exacerbating the plight of the urban dweller.Households in urban areas are, therefore, more affected by economicstructural adjustment policies because their livelihood depends almostwholly on cash transactions in comparison to rural folk whose way ofliving tends to be at subsistence level and is less dependant on cash andpayments. The discrepancy in dropout rates of urban and rural schoolsis indicative of this. Such a situation shows that there is need to institutedifferential policies which would impact on the plight of the urban girlchild over the rural girl child. This study recommends that if policieswhich are gender sensitive are to be instituted, then there is need to offerintensive gender training and awareness to gender structuring for allpolicy makers and all school administrators as a way of facilitating genderequity.Overall, the dropout rate for girls was much higher than for boys. Ofgreater concern is that the findings indicate net loss in female enrolmentresulting from enrolment rates which are increasing at a slower rate thandropouts. This is an indication that there were progressively fewer girlsthan boys who were actually receiving a full secondary school educationin a country where the female population is higher than that of males.This is evidence of a high rate of wastage within an education system; awastage, which can be ill afforded by a country which needs high qualitymanpower if the aim of ESAP, which is getting the economy to highproductive levels, is to succeed.All the evidence from this study shows that ESAP has a negativeeffect on the participation of girls at secondary school level. Efforts toredress these negative effects call for a critical analysis of the householdlevel to isolate those factors which cause households to discriminateagainst girls in allocating educational chances. Further research isrecommended to isolate these factors as this would help in drawing up234 ESAP AND THE PARTICIPATION OF SECONDARY SCHOOL GIRLSpolicies that target to entice the household to send girls as well as boysto school.ReferencesHYDE, K. (1989) 'Improving Women's Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: AReview of the Literature' (PHREE Background Paper Series 15,Washington, D.C., World Bank).NHUNDU, T. J. (1992) 'A decade of educational expansion in Zimbabwe:Causes, consequences and policy contradictions', Journal of NegroEducation 61 (i), 78-98.NKINYANGI, J. (1982) 'Access to primary education in Kenya: Thecontradictions of public policy', Comparative Education Review 2600, 199-217.OGBU, 0. M. AND M. GALLAGHER (1991) "On public expenditures and deliveryof education in Sub-Saharan Africa', Comparative Education Review35 00, 295-318.PSACHARAPOULOS, G. AND F. STEIER (1987J Foreign Debt and DomesticSpending: An International Comparison (Washington D.C., World Bank).REIMERS, F. (1991) 'The impact of economic stabilisation and adjustmenton education in Latin America', Comparative Education Review 35 (ii),319-353.THOBANI, M. (1984) 'Charging user fees for social services: EducationMalawi', Comparative Education Review 28 (iii), 402-423.VEDOVA, M. (1986) Economic Recession in Costa Rica and its Consequenceson the Poor (San Jose, Prodesarrollo).THE WORLD BANK (1988) Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: Policies forAdjustment, Revitalisation, and Expansion (Washington D.C., The WorldBank).in