School Attendance, Marriage and Child Labour in Sahel Areas of Burkina Faso

Yacouba Yaro, Centre d'Etudes de Recherches et de Formation pour le Developpement Economique et Social (CERFODES)
Erinna C. Dia, African Development Bank Group

School attendance in Sahelian region of Burkina Faso is still very low around 39%. Girls are more affected by this situation due to early marriages, and heavy involvement in household chores. Boys also are affected with agricultural, pastoral and commercial activities. The phenomenon of child labor outside the family circle is somewhat encouraged by school’s counter production. Economic factors and the rise in the cost of schooling in a context of large poverty, contributes to non-school attendance, early drop out and increased resort to child labor. The paper is an analysis of some key points between the Education – Marriage – Child labor triptych. The presentation will use data collected through a national survey financed by UNICEF on the acceleration of girls’ education by setting up an essential learning package. The study was carried out in six of the country’s regions including Sahelian Region .