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CONTEXT MATTERS: FOSTERING, ORPHANHOOD AND SCHOOLING IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2014

KATE HAMPSHIRE ,
GINA PORTER ,
SAMUEL AGBLORTI ,
ELSBETH ROBSON ,
ALISTER MUNTHALI  and
ALBERT ABANE
KATE HAMPSHIRE*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Durham University, UK
GINA PORTER
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, Durham University, UK
SAMUEL AGBLORTI
Affiliation:
Department Population and Health, University of Cape Coast, Ghana
ELSBETH ROBSON
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, Environment and Earth Sciences, University of Hull, UK
ALISTER MUNTHALI
Affiliation:
Centre for Social Research, University of Malawi, Malawi
ALBERT ABANE
Affiliation:
Department of Geography and Regional Planning, University of Cape Coast, Ghana
*
1Corresponding author. Email: K.R.Hampshire@durham.ac.uk
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Summary

A growing body of research suggests that orphanhood and fostering might be (independently) associated with educational disadvantage in sub-Saharan Africa. However, literature on the impacts of orphanhood and fostering on school enrolment, attendance and progress produces equivocal, and often conflicting, results. This paper reports on quantitative and qualitative data from sixteen field-sites in Ghana and Malawi, highlighting the importance of historical and social context in shaping schooling outcomes for fostered and orphaned children. In Malawi, which has been particularly badly affected by AIDS, orphans were less likely to be enrolled in and attending school than other children. By contrast, in Ghana, with its long tradition of ‘kinship fostering’, orphans were not significantly educationally disadvantaged; instead, non-orphaned, purposively fostered children had lower school enrolment and attendance than their peers. Understanding the context of orphanhood and fostering in relation to schooling is crucial in achieving ‘Education for All’.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 47 , Issue 2 , March 2015 , pp. 141 - 164
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2014 

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