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Gender and Education for All
THE LEAP TO EQUALITY |
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| Box 3.5. How foster children fare in West Africa | |
The fostering of children is an ancient phenomenon in many parts of the world. In West Africa, where it is widespread, the traditional causes vary widely. They include illness, death, divorce or separation of parents, socialization and the wish to strengthen family ties (by blood or marriage). For the societies involved, child ‘circulation’ is a characteristic of family systems, fitting in with patterns of family solidarity and systems of rights and obligations.
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In addition to reinforcing social bonds, this practice also appears to help maintain high fertility rates by spreading the economic burden of child-rearing more evenly. In some cases children may still have one or both biological parents alive, possibly even within the same household, although the household head may not be their parent.
Given the variations in definition, it is difficult to arrive at clear estimates of the exact extent to which fostering is taking place, as all children not living with a parent are deemed to be in ‘foster care’. Demographic and health survey reports for eleven countries13 provide more accurate information about parents’ survival and residence, especially for children aged between 6–9 and 10–14, which is the usual school-age group. If children living with neither parent (whether alive or not) are considered to be in ‘foster care’ in these countries, then:
22 foster children account for 10%–20% of the 6–9, and 13% –25% of the 10–14 age groups;
22 in the overwhelming majority of these cases, both parents are alive but do not live with their child.
One factor explaining the large number of children involved is that many migrate from school-deprived areas in order to attend school elsewhere. On the other hand, there are gender differences. For girls, fostering may often be a reflection of the demand for domestic labour, whereas for boys it may reflect a concern with improving their schooling and life opportunities. The relationship between the custody of very young children and housework raises problems, particularly in households where both spouses work outside the home.
Similarly, the reality of many fostering situations is often not conducive to children’s development. The costs for children’s education, the extent of the guardian’s responsibility for the child, and the emotional relationship between them are also likely to have a major influence on the opportunities made available for children in foster care. Actual situations are also highly diverse. Correspondingly, it is likely that a lower involvement on the part of the foster child’s natural
| | parent, especially financially (or in kind), would lead to a higher risk that the foster child will suffer mistreatment in the host family.
An analysis of data from a survey on the ‘social dimensions of adjustment’ in Côte d’Ivoire showed that education expenses earmarked for foster children were lower than those allotted to the household head’s own children (De Vreyer, 1994). Usually, the host family expects foster children to perform some domestic tasks (washing dishes and clothes, carrying water, helping out with the cooking and shopping), or even to contribute to certain productive or commercial activities. Considered as a kind of payment, those chores might of course be compatible with a socialization and upbringing process in its broadest sense. But it has also been shown that ‘sometimes these children are less well-fed, and work more than the others in the household, under the pretext of giving them a good upbringing. … These children are practically thought of as domestic servants, and that can only have a negative influence on their scholastic performance’ (Vandermeersch, 2000, p. 431). Thus, their chances of repeating, failing and dropping out of school are high. This problem is more acute for girls, who are required to perform more domestic chores. Moreover, fostering also carries the risk of ‘psychological suffering’ for the child (Savané, 1994). Thus, fostering for purposes of school enrolment does not protect children from abuse, mistreatment and other forms of exploitation that might lead them to fail or drop out of school.
Shocks and crises aggravate these circumstances. In particular, the HIV/AIDS pandemic sharply increases the number of foster children owing to parental mortality, thereby stretching the capacity of foster parents to provide for their families.
One key policy response is to increase provision of educational opportunities, particularly in rural areas. Moreover, developing early childhood centres to allow women to work and to have their younger children looked after by others could provide significant support.
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Source: Pilon (2003).
13. Benin, 2001; Burkina Faso; 1992/93; Côte d'Ivoire, 1994; Ghana, 1998; Guinea, 1999; Mali, 2001; Mauritania, 200/01; Niger, 1998; Nigeria, 1999; Senegal, 1992/93; Togo, 1998.
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