Mapping local variation in educational attainment across Africa

Area of Science:

• Global Health
• Demography
• Education Policy

Background:

• Educational attainment for women of reproductive age is crucial for reducing child and maternal mortality, lowering fertility rates, and improving reproductive health.
• Existing analyses of educational attainment are primarily at the national level, masking significant subnational inequalities and urban-rural disparities.
• Progress towards Sustainable Development Goals for education in African countries is unclear due to a lack of granular data.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore within-country inequalities in educational attainment in Africa.
• To generate high-resolution, subnational estimates of average educational attainment by age and sex.
• To inform targeted interventions for achieving Sustainable Development Goals.

Main Methods:

• Predicting years of schooling using geospatial modeling at a five by five kilometre grid resolution.
• Generating subnational estimates of average educational attainment across African countries.
• Analyzing trends in educational attainment between 2000 and 2015.

Main Results:

• Significant progress in educational attainment was observed across Africa from 2000 to 2015.
• Substantial differences in educational attainment persist between locations and sexes within countries.
• These disparities have widened in many countries, notably across the Sahel region.

Conclusions:

• High-resolution, subnational data are essential for understanding and addressing educational inequalities.
• Targeted interventions are necessary to ensure equitable progress towards educational Sustainable Development Goals.
• Addressing disparities in educational attainment is critical for improving reproductive health and reducing mortality in Africa.