Education of Disadvantaged Children in OIC:
The Key to Escape from Poverty
67
Poverty: Both in 2005 and in 2015, access
to schooling was significantly lower for
children in the lowest wealth quintile
versus children in the highest wealth
quintile (See . Attendance rates
have increased across wealth quintiles but
completion rates of the poorest have
experienced a particularly steep increase
both for 5 years of education (rates 3 times
higher in 2015 than 2005) and for 8 years
of education (2015 rates are almost 14
times higher than in 2005).
Within each indicator, the difference in
access rates between the poorest and the
richest have decreased across all indicators
(except for 2015, 8 year completion rate)
meaning inequality has decreased (Se .
Table 2 Education outcomes by household wealth quintile
Household wealth quintile Attendance in
school
(6-11 year olds)
Attendance in
school
(12-15 year
olds)
Finishing 5
years of
education
(12-15 year
olds)
Finishing 8
years of
education
(16-18 year
olds)
2005 2015 2005 2015 2005 2015 2005 2015
Quint 1 (Poorest) 38.2 43.8 34.4 52 10.3 32.1 1.2 16.5
Quint 5 (Richest) 77 79.4 69.8 84.8 54.6 66.5 35.9 59.8
Difference 38.8 35.6 35.4 32.8 44.3 34.4 34.7 34.3
Note: Authors’ calculations using DHS 2005 and DHS 2015
An indirect channel through which poverty can also affect access to schooling is through the size
of the family and the number of children at home. Usually, poorer households tend to have
more children and vice versa having more children creates additional burden on the economics
of the family and thus create incentives for child labour.
Table 3 Education outcomes by number of children in the household
Number of children in the
household
Attendance in
school
(6-11 year
olds)
Attendance in
school
(12-15 year
olds)
Finishing 5
years of
education
(12-15 year
olds)
Finishing 8
years of
education
(16-18 year
olds)
2005 2015 2005 2015 2005 2015 2005 2015
5 or more children 50.1 50.5 50.7 58.7 25.1 37.8 12.3 29
3-4 children 54.2 61.6 54.4 68.9 31.8 49.9 16.6 39
1-2 children 64.6 69.2 50.9 74.3 35.8 59.5 20.2 42.2
Note: Authors’ calculations using DHS 2005 and DHS 2015
Figure 24 Attendance in school by household
wealth status 2005-2015
Note: Authors’ calculations using DHS 2005 and 2015 for
Senegal
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Quint 1
(Poorest)
Quint 2 Quint 3 Quint 4 Quint 5
(Richest)
Asset quintiles
attendance to school for children aged
6-11 years old (%)
2005 2015