Table 2.
Percentage responses on key variables by round and sex of respondent, Malawi Schooling and Adolescent Study, 2007–2011, among those attending school at baseline.
| Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
| |||||||||||||||
| Females | Males | Females | Males | Females | Males | Females | Males | Females | Males | ||||||
| School enrollment and permanent dropout by round | |||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||
| Number in-school respondents | 869 | 884 | 618 | 757 | 451 | 636 | 281 | 519 | 211 | 451 | |||||
| # dropped out by round | -- | -- | 197 | 63 | 162 | 108 | 175 | 121 | 96 | 102 | |||||
| Cumulative dropout | -- | -- | 23% | 7% | *** | 41% | 19% | *** | 61% | 33% | *** | 72% | 45% | *** | |
|
| |||||||||||||||
| Proportion reporting school violence by round | |||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||
| Sample: In-school each round | 869 | 884 | 618 | 757 | 451 | 636 | 281 | 519 | 211 | 451 | |||||
|
| |||||||||||||||
| Any school violence, current year | 51% | 53% | 47% | 49% | 43% | 48% | † | 58% | 53% | -- | -- | ||||
| Physical school violence, current year | 33% | 33% | 28% | 28% | 19% | 20% | 19% | 15% | -- | -- | |||||
| Sexual school violence, current year | 15% | 14% | 10% | 8% | 9% | 8% | 11% | 6% | * | -- | -- | ||||
| Sexual harassment in school, current year | 31% | 36% | † | 31% | 34% | 34% | 39% | 48% | 45% | -- | -- | ||||
|
| |||||||||||||||
| Proportion/mean reporting absenteeism (4 measures) by round | |||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||
| Sample: In-school each round | 869 | 884 | 618 | 757 | 451 | 636 | 281 | 519 | 211 | 451 | |||||
|
| |||||||||||||||
| Attend school regularly | 89% | 90% | 88% | 89% | 91% | 89% | 89% | 92% | 92% | 94% | |||||
| Attended school yesterday/last school day | 81% | 80% | 80% | 76% | † | 83% | 81% | 90% | 84% | -- | -- | ||||
| # days attended in last school week (mean) | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 4.3 | 4.5 | 4.3 | * | -- | -- | ||||
| Ever missed school, current school year | 81% | 77% | * | 84% | 81% | 76% | 72% | 74% | 76% | -- | -- | ||||
|
| |||||||||||||||
| Proportion reporting domestic violence by round (Sample = all respondents who were in school at baseline: 869 females, 884 males) | |||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||
| Physical domestic violence - ever | 44% | 39% | * | 57% | 51% | * | 63% | 56% | ** | 64% | 58% | * | 67% | 61% | ** |
| Physical domestic violence - in last month | 25% | 27% | 21% | 15% | ** | 17% | 13% | ** | 7% | 5% | 9% | 4% | ** | ||
|
| |||||||||||||||
| Student learning outcomes by round (Sample = all respondents who were in school at baseline: 869 females, 884 males) | |||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||
| Chichewa reading comprehension score (range: 0–6) | |||||||||||||||
| Mean score (standard deviation) | -- | -- | 3.9 (1.7) | 4.0 (1.8) | 4.5 (1.4) | 4.3 (1.5) | * | 4.3 (1.7) | 4.6 (1.6) | ** | 4.4 (1.4) | 4.5 (1.5) | |||
| % scoring ≥ median score (5) | -- | -- | 42% | 46% | 56% | 52% | † | 55% | 63% | ** | 56% | 61% | † | ||
| Numeracy score (range: 0–12) | |||||||||||||||
| Mean score (standard deviation) | 9.2 (2.5) | 9.3 (2.5) | 9.3 (2.4) | 9.6 (2.3) | * | 9.0 (2.6) | 9.5 (2.4) | ** | 8.7 (2.5) | 9.1 (2.6) | ** | 9.1 (2.5) | 9.5 (2.6) | ** | |
| % scoring ≥ median score (10) | 55% | 56% | 56% | 60% | † | 51% | 60% | * | 45% | 53% | * | 53% | 61% | ** | |
p < 0.10;
p < 0.05;
p < 0.01;
p < 0.001.
T-tests were conducted to assess differences by student sex.
Notes: Only current students were asked about school violence and absenteeism in each round. Domestic violence questions and learning assessments were administered to all respondents, regardless of student status. Reading comprehension was not assessed until round 2; school violence and several absenteeism questions were not asked in round 5 because most respondents had left school. Students were coded as having dropped out of school in each round if they reported they were no longer attending school in the current round, as well as all subsequent rounds. For both Chichewa reading comprehension and numeracy, respondents are coded relative to the median across all rounds. More than 50% of respondents fall into the “greater than or equal to” the median category because an important minority scored equal to the median.