Female Education and Mission: A Burkina Faso Experience

By Philippe Ouedraogo

This volume is the result of six years research in ‘Overcoming Obstacles to Female Education in Burkina Faso’. It narrates how Christians and religious groups can speed up female education and contribute to the socio-economic growth of Burkina Faso. Religious culture and traditions were seen as a problem to female education. However, the evidence from this research shows that Christianity is also part of the solution to a quality female education, thus a key factor of socio economic growth of the country. The author is currently working to advocate with families, churches/NGOs and the Government of Burkina Faso for a quality access to Female Education as a strategy to poverty reduction. This independent research comes along side others to inform policy makers, researchers, practitioners, aid agencies, religious communities and governments for a greater involvement in female education as one of the appropriate strategies for achieving Education for All.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Regnum Studies in Mission
• Release date: Apr 1, 2014
• ISBN: 9781911372493

Book preview

Chapter 1

Introduction

I ran away from a forced marriage and sought refuge at the church for three years. This was before I got married to the man of my choice. Through the church literacy programme I can now read the Bible and Bible studies. After I ran away, the church pleaded my case with my family who accepted me back. Before that I was disowned by my family because I refused to marry the man they had chosen for me. Traditionally this is an offence that needed restoring. (Focus Group, 22 February 2005)

My name is Fati Rapademnaaba, wife of the late Pastor Moussa Rapademnaaba, who served in Poa village in the province of Bulkiemdé and at Nagbangé Bible School. When a girl runs away from home because she is persecuted by her family and comes to you, you have to look after her. I started receiving such girls looking for help since we were at Koudougou since 1948. This service has some implications because the parents can come and beat you up. I remember in 1952 we accepted three girls into our home and this brought us many troubles. But later, one girl got married to a Christian business man, the second to a pastor. (Fati, Rapademnaaba, 2004)

These two true testimonies of women introduce this thesis in support of the claim that many obstacles; historical, social, cultural/religious and economic have hindered, and continue to hinder, the development of girls’ and women’s education in Burkina Faso. However, Faith-Based Organizations, especially Evangelical ones and particularly Pentecostals like the Assemblies of God, have shown, and are continuing to show, innovative ways to improve girls’ and women’s education in the country.

This introduction seeks to explain the rationale, based on evidence at the grassroots level, that highlights the obstacles girls and women face in seeking access to education in Burkina Faso and the role the Evangelical church and other NGOs are playing to overcome them. It will also contribute to the recommendations of the literature that calls for more people to speak out in support of the female cause.

The fact that most religious practitioners and leaders are male makes for a powerful image in favour of that sex, and it would be a very helpful move if religious leaders of all faiths and denominations were to speak out strongly in support of the female cause. (Brock and Cammish 1997:3)

Brock and Cammish are pointing out here the need for religious leaders to speak out in support of girls’ and women’s education. This study uses a qualitative methodology using case studies and interviews, and falls into the category of education and women’s education. This chapter will introduce the overall thesis, define its methodology, refer to the hypothesis, justify areas that need clarification, introduce the main research questions and limitations, and conclude with the layout of the chapters.

What is the Level of Female Education in Burkina Faso?

Female education is among the lowest in Burkina Faso as in other Sahel region countries. Reports tend to support the view that this situation is true especially of some Francophone West African countries (DFID 1977:28-29) in the Sahel to name only Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali. Among the arguments put forward pointing to some of the causes are the cultural and religious barriers.

In almost all countries and communities there is a fundamental cultural bias in favour of males. In those cases in this study where female participation in education was found to be very limited, this factor operated very strongly through decisions about child care, nutrition, physical work, freedom of movement and marriage. (Brock and Cammish 1997:21)

Little has been written to evaluate what role the Evangelical churches have played in overcoming the impact of these obstacles on girls’ and women’s lives in Burkina Faso. Very often evidence is needed to appreciate what kind of role civil society organizations, such as the Evangelical churches and Christian NGOs, have played in the lives of girls and women in Burkina Faso. Can we learn from them in case there are any success stories, or join in partnership with them to help the Government’s efforts in those decentralized areas to offer better life opportunities to girls and women? Since Burkina Faso is not widely known, especially in the English-speaking world, an in-depth understanding of the historical and socio-economic context in which girls’ and women’s education has evolved needed to be written and to include their voices in the discourse. Rather than coming from outside, this community-based research shares its own success stories and failures, expressing it through the culture and religious values of the indigenous people.

The research was instigated by the Evangelical/Pentecostal church community and NGOs seeking to investigate what impact the church education system has had on the spiritual and socio-economic life of girls and women. Education and faith should not be alien to each other as French colonial secular thinking may suggest. Frost (2010) in a BBC4 interview argued for a Christian response to poverty and injustice. He referred to Parris’ (2008) findings in his article entitled: ‘As an atheist, I believe Africa needs God¹‘ and supported a spiritual dimension in holistic development with a Christian world view². Once the contribution of this private sector is analysed and understood, it may be that these People of the Book can become potential partners for promoting quality education for all (EFA). Brock (1993:7) points out that ‘The Jomtien report is unambiguous in its championing of the role of the non-governmental organizations (NGOs), thus the NGOs shall be part of all formal structures for implementation of the EFA at all levels’. Brock and Cammish (1997: vii) continue to assert that ‘the record of NGOs is markedly better, and those governments that enable NGOs to operate in favour of increased female participation are to be commended’.

Why I Embarked upon this Research

Although much has been written and said about girls’ education in general and in Africa in particular, actually very little, if anything, has hitherto been written by an Evangelical church leader in Burkina Faso at a global knowledge level on the contribution Evangelical churches and NGOs have made to girls’ and women’s education in the Central and Northern regions of Burkina Faso. This thesis comes as a contribution to the literature on female education with insights and innovations in global knowledge.

This research focuses on the Assemblies of God because that church has run the largest number of formal schools and was also the first to be planted in the country after the Roman Catholic Church. From 1948 in formal education, and even before then in non-formal education, the Evangelical churches, such as the Assemblies of God, have made their contribution to education in difficult circumstances. The question is did they, from the beginning, have clear education policies or resources to develop these for the benefit of the general public, or did they see education as part of their vocation and therefore as an opportunity for their mission? Such commitment of years of labour, alongside the contribution of other Christian NGOs, needs to be assessed by the people themselves and shared with the global world about the nature, challenges, innovations and results of such educational initiatives. I critically examine correlations that exist between education and faith, religion and gender, culture and socio-economic aspects affecting girls and women in Burkina Faso.

My own involvement as a stakeholder: advantages and disadvantages

DISADVANTAGES

As a practitioner, I belong to the religious community of the milieu and have acted as a local church pastor of Boulmiougou Assemblies of God in Ouagadougou for twenty years, as Executive Director of Association Evangélique d’Appui au Développement (AEAD) for eighteen years, and as Vice President of the AOG church since January 2010. These positions, including my role in the Alliance of Evangelical Schools in Burkina Faso (AESEB), can be interpreted in one way as a disadvantage to this research and as implying a bias. From this embedded position as an insider, I need objectively to face these critics who might argue that I am favouring one particular church denomination or religious group over others. Nevertheless, being an ‘insider’ has its own merits for such investigations.

ADVANTAGES

Objectively, as argued by Katherine Marshall (2010), Faith leaders instead of being part of the problem can and should in many instances be part of the solution, especially regarding girls’ and women’s education. She added that ‘Faith institutions are often the major providers of services, including education, a force of continuity and support to communities’. Following on from the argument of Katherine Marshall, who is in a better position to take a critical look at issues such as education, gender, culture and religious influence than a representative of the FBO groups that most scholars agree were part of the initiatives of the first Christian missionaries? Communities and Church leaders are often in the best position to speak out in favour of universal primary Education, gender balance and quality in education. They can act as advocates to keep governments and aid agencies accountable to both donors and beneficiaries.

My position as a church and FBO leader means that I can address the holistic dimension of education that should not only look at a secular point of view. In this way the spiritual aspects, changes in behaviour, and quality dimensions are all incorporated. The Burkina Faso government sees the Evangelical church and the Alliance in Education (AESEB), as making positive contributions to education, and recently called us around the table for consultation, discussion and implementation. However, this does not mean that I am less critical in posing questions, or merely take facts at face value.

This research is unique in Burkina Faso

I have not before or since embarking on my research on girls’ education come across any other independent research project, initiated by an individual in a community, to tackle this important issue at a multidimensional level, namely the impact of the evangelical church in Burkina Faso on girls’ and women’s education. Zownal, C (1998) made a heartfelt appeal for the need for such research to reach the level of the global reader in the field of education. Although my central theme is that of overcoming obstacles to girls’ and women’s education, aspects such as gender, culture, history, economy and religious involvement are inevitably seen as part of this.

It is hoped, therefore, that this study might help to explain what, and how, women and girls feel about education. These insights from the community should create a more accurate grassroots picture. I argue that the colonial legacy was not in favour of girls’ and women’s education in Burkina Faso and that this still constitutes an obstacle that the church and related organizations, in collaboration with the government, have had to face in reforming and introducing some innovative approaches to design an education programme that meets the real needs of the population. It is only with this context in mind that one can appreciate recent progress in girls’ and women’s education in Burkina Faso

Why is it important?

After forty years of political independence from France in 1960, the net primary school enrolment of Burkina Faso (a landlocked country in West Africa) in 2000 was 42 per cent for boys against 29 per cent for girls; 88 per cent of women above fifteen years of age were illiterate (World Bank 2004:322). Only 5 per cent of girls compared with 7 per cent of boys reach the secondary school level (World Bank 1994-95:353). Burkina Faso has strong established communities, chiefly from traditional beliefs, Christian and Islamic backgrounds. Christians in Burkina co-exist peacefully with traditional beliefs and Islam. There are three main religions in the country; these are ancestral worship, Islam and Christianity, of which Islam is the largest religious group. Alongside religion, one should consider people’s values and beliefs. What is the social position of the girl or woman in each of these three religions in Burkina Faso predominately led by males? Are women marginalized by the influences of these religions? Does education influenced by religion help to resolve the gender problems women are facing? What are the main reasons for girls’ low enrolment in school? The population is largely agrarian, surviving on semi-subsistence farming.

Both the state, FBOs, the private sector and communities at local levels are focused on improving the lives of the Burkinabè,³ but as stated by the World Bank (2004), 45 per cent of the population in Burkina Faso is living below the poverty line. These situations indicate problems of biased accessibility to education and inequality in meeting basic needs. Sharing the Christian view that humankind was originally created in the image of God,⁴ the norm or philosophical requirement should be to find reasons for these inequalities especially in a land where it is claimed that people live with dignity.⁵ The Burkinabè are conscious of these inequalities in their everyday lives; while at the national level the Government is committed to improving this serious development issue, it is doubtful if it can do it by itself. The Government needs to work with partners.

The reformed 2007 Education Orientation Law No 013-2007/AN, article three reads: ‘Education is a national priority’. The government and its partners in the education system are devising new policies, although these policies are facing resource constraints and other social factors like malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. However, progress is being made, and the statistics for 2003-04 showed that gross enrolment at primary school had reached 52 %⁶ and had reached 72.5% by 2008 (MEBA 2009).⁷ This rapid growth in school enrolment was criticized by the public, who wondered if it was genuine or only to satisfy political reasons. That growth needs to take into account the attendance per class and the quality of teaching. The Minister of Basic Education in his interview with the Press in April 2004 attested that education partners, such as the European Union, the World Bank, multilateral and bilateral partners, all supported these facts. However, during the field visit partners noticed, and brought to the government’s attention, the fact that some primary school classes have between 140-150 children in them. In one case they discovered over 200 pupils in one class! This brings out other problems that also need critical attention. President Compaoré in his official speech during the seventy-fifth anniversary of the Assemblies of God church in Burkina Faso stated that the church is viewed as a partner in development⁸. Later on his Minister of Basic Education and Literacy reported him as saying that education is the basis of development.⁹

One could argue that with appropriate basic education people are equipped to make better choices and contribute to the socio-economic development of the country through the modern and non-formal sectors. Therefore, an educational system that meets the real needs of its people should be developed. In the context of private schools parents are requested to make a financial contribution which limits how many children they can afford to send to school. That touches on the economic factors mentioned by Brock and Cammish (1997:3):

Together with the fundamental socio-cultural bias in favour of males, the economic factor, especially in terms of grinding poverty and hunger, is probably the most influential and adversely affecting female participation in education, especially in rural areas.

This argument was further supported by a study by the Ministry of Basic Education and Literacy of Burkina Faso in partnership with the UNDP (MEBA/SNU 2007) where 82. 6% of teachers (Public, Lay and Confessional) ranked this obstacle as the top cause affecting the success or failure in Basic Education. (MEBA: 2007)

Although such schools are open to everyone, very poor families, unless children are sponsored, cannot afford to send all the children to private schools. Both the private sector and civil society, including the religious groups, especially the Christian and the Muslim communities, attempt to support the government’s strategic plan. However, looking at the issue of the impact of education, especially on girls in the twenty-first century in the context of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) (World Bank: 2003) adopted by all member states in the UN, and from the point of view of a practitioner who is working at the grassroots level among these communities, I am aiming to ascertain the persistent obstacles to girls’ and women’s education in Burkina Faso, and the contribution of evangelicals toward overcoming them.

Young girls in a literacy class in the north with the coordinator

What is the goal of this study?

This study seeks to assess a qualitative contribution to girls’ and women’s life as the result of the education provided by the Evangelical churches and Christian NGOs. Through my chosen research methods, using case studies with a semi-structured open-ended questionnaire, I hope at the end of the process to have some empirical evidence helping to verify the hypothesis cited in this chapter (see page 1). As such the study seeks to examine the place of girls’ and women’s education in the context of Burkina Faso. It reflects on the importance of women in socio-economic development from a study of the literature. It analyses the obstacles facing girls and women in the male-dominated society of Burkina Faso.

Through a combination of research methods it explores in what ways evangelical churches have led, and continue to lead, the development of female education, and reflects on whether their approach can be generalized to reach more girls and women. What contribution have the Evangelical churches and Christian NGOs made to the lives of girls and women in Burkina Faso? Have they affected their spiritual, socio-cultural and economic wellbeing, and have they improved the gender gap and the status of women? Have they helped to create harmonious, prosperous and happier families?

The primary and documentary sources available were looked at to examine the role that the Evangelical churches and NGOs are playing in increase girls’ and women’s access to education. The relation between secular development organizations with Faith Based Organizations (FBOs) and the churches was discussed in a recent debate on faith perspectives.¹⁰ This thesis argues that a holistic development is compatible with spiritual values. It could be that there are lessons that the South can share with the North in terms of quality education that affects the whole person. This study therefore attempts to make a contribution at a global level, and especially to inform the English-speaking world about innovative approaches coming from faith-based groups and the churches involved in overcoming obstacles to girls’ and women’ education.

What is original?

I have also outlined educational innovations that bridge non-formal and formal education with the potential to accelerate women’s literacy, thus making some of the MDGs a reality in the near future in Burkina Faso and the Sahel region. In addition to the existing tools, such as formal education and experiences of non-formal education, I am pioneering with other partners in education an innovation known as The Speed School and the Cha(i)nge approach, with the participation of local and national education authorities: an accelerated approach that has been approved by the government of Burkina Faso. These experiments now have the full approval of three countries, namely Burkina Faso, Mali, and Niger. The Cha(i)nge approach is also in a development phase both in Burkina Faso and in Benin by Woord en Daad and its Partner Organizations: Association Evangélique d’Appui au Développement (AEAD), Christian Relief and Development Organization (CREDO), Organization pour le Développement Durable, le Renforcement et l’Auto-promotion des Structures communautaires (DEDRAS). Influencing policy at a national level and networking with similar organizations at local and wider levels are strategies that favour girls’ and women’s education. Welcome, then, to the journey that starts at the community level in rural villages in the northern region of Burkina Faso and the capital city of Ouagadougou!

Clarification of terms

Since the text refers to different types of education, I should clarify how these terms are defined.

Female education is the generic term employed. However, the term ‘girls’ and women’s education’ is also used to distinguish the different types and levels of education girls and women receive. According the Orientation Education Law 013-2007AN (Assemblée Nationale) girls’ compulsory education falls in the same category as that of boys between 6-16 years of age. Girls who do not have that opportunity receive non-formal education such as literacy with women, boys and men, the Speed School and skills learning. Women’s education in the non-formal sector is largely through adult literacy leading to socio-economic development.

Formal education: Thomas J. La Belle (1975:20) refers to Coombs and Ahmed’s definition as: …institutionalized, chronologically graded and hierarchically structured educational system, spanning lower primary school and the upper reaches of the university.

Non-formal education is …any organized, systematic, educational activity carried on outside the framework of the formal system to provide selected types of learning to particular subgroups in the population, adults as well as children.

Informal education is defined as …the lifelong process by which every person acquires and accumulates knowledge, skills, attitudes and insights from daily experiences and exposure to the environment… These terms will relate to each other as the survey progresses with an understanding of a holistic approach to education.

Research Methodology

The research methodology according to Kumar (2008:5) is systematic way of solving the research problem. It is the science of studying how research is done scientifically. It includes all the logic behind the methods used in the research and why other methods and techniques are not used. All these different methods are part of qualitative methodology. Kaplan (1973) in Cohen, Manion and Morrison 2000:45) suggests the aim of methodology is to help us to understand, in the broadest possible terms, not the products of scientific inquiry but the process itself. However the numerical information presented in this study was little more than background information from primary sources, making the research more qualitative than quantitative.

Research methods

The qualitative method is used to collect the data. Mason (1996) analysed it as follows:

Qualitative research should involve critical self-scrutiny by the researcher, or active reflexivity. This means that the researcher should constantly take stock of their action and their role in the research process, and subject these to the same critical scrutiny as the rest of their ‘data’. This is based on the belief that a researcher cannot be neutral, or objective, or detached, from the knowledge and evidence they are generating. Instead, they should seek to understand their role in that process. Indeed, the very act of posing difficult questions to oneself in the research process is part of the activity of reflexivity. (Mason: 1996:4)

Mason argues that a qualitative method should be systematically rigorously and strategically conducted. It should produce social explanations to intellectual puzzles.

As discussed below the methodology also worked mainly around case studies. It has been defined by Yin (1993:3) as the method of choice when the phenomenon under study is not readily distinguishable from its content. To Cohen and Manion (1995) a case study goes deeper in analysing phenomena intensively with a view to establishing evidence.

Unlike the experimenter who manipulates variables to determine their causal significance or the surveyor who asks standardized questions of large, representative samples of individuals, the case study researcher typically observes the characteristics of an individual unit – a child, a clique, a class, a school or a community. The purpose of such observation is to prove deeply and to analyse intensively the multifarious phenomena that constitute the life cycle of the unit with a view to establishing generalizations about the wider population to which that unit belongs. (Cohen and Manion 1995:106-7)

However, there are advantages and disadvantages in using case studies.

ADVANTAGES

1.Case studies data are drawn from people’s experience and practices and so are seen to be strong in reality.

2.Case studies allow for generalizations from a specific instance to a more general issue.

3.Case studies allow the researcher to show the complexity of social life. Good case studies built on this to explore alternative meanings and interpretations.

4.Case studies can provide a data source from which further analysis can be made. They can, therefore, be archived for further research work.

5.Because case studies build on actual practices and experiences, they can be linked to action and their insights contribute to changing practice. Indeed, case study may be a subset of a broader action research project.

6.Because the data contained in case studies are close to people’s experiences, they can be more persuasive and more accessible.

7.Allows for exploration of solutions for complex issues

Source: (Blaxter et al, 1996:73) adapting Cohen and Manion (1995:123)

DISADVANTAGES

1.The very complexity of a case can make analysis difficult. This is particularly so because the holistic nature of case study means that the researcher is often very aware of the connections between various events, variables and outcomes. (Blaxter et al, 1996: 73)

2.However, I will argue that hard decisions need to be made to remain in focus.

3.May not see the relevance to own situation, insufficient information can lead to inappropriate results, not appropriate for elementary level.

Case studies

A case study as defined by Cohen (2000:181) in this context helps to give a better explanation of a particular situation with regard to a larger picture. ‘It is an intensive study of a single group, incident, or community’. A case study has wholeness rather than being a loose collection of traits, necessitating in-depth investigation. Hitchcock and Hughes (1995:322) support the view that a case study approach is particularly valuable when the researcher has little control over events. According to them a case study has the following hallmarks:

•It is concerned with a rich and vivid description of events relevant to the case.

•It provides a chronological narrative of events relevant to the case.

•It blends a description of events with the analysis of them.

•It focuses on individual actors or groups of actors, and seeks to understand their

•prceptions of events.

•It highlights specific events that are relevant to the case.

•The researcher is integrally involved in the case.

With regards to reporting a case study, data are collected systematically and rigorously, as supported by Nisbet and Watt (1984: 91). A case study can make theoretical statements, but like other forms of research and human sciences, these must be supported by the evidence presented. I have used a case studies method because it fits better the field of educational research that I have explored. One of the areas in which case studies have been gaining popularity is education, and in particular educational evaluation.

The intention was to dig deep from the practitioners of education, various religious groups and institutions and to reach the real people concerned in order to investigate the major obstacles which persist in holding girls and women back from being educated, and also to look for evidence where churches and NGOs have worked to resolve them. The findings from one case study are linked to other cases in different parts of the country to provide evidence. However, case studies have their strengths and weaknesses. What are these? Among their strengths, case studies are a step to action. Adelman et al. (1980) suggested that they originate in a world of action and contribute to it. Their insights may be directly interpreted and put to use; for staff or individual self-development, for within-institutional feedback; for formative evaluation; and in educational policy making (Cohen 2000:184). However, it has also been observed by (Nisbet and Watt 1984) that one of the weaknesses is that the results may not be generalizable except where other readers/researchers see their application.

Narrative research methods

This study has also used narrative methods to collect primary sources through in-depth face-to-face interviews. Hinchman and Hinchman define narrative as:

Discourses with sequential order that connect events in a meaningful way for a definite audience and thus offer insights about the world and/or people’s experiences. (Hinchman and Hinchman 1997: xvi)

Mishler (1986) argues that:

Paying attention to the stories that respondents tell potentially leads to a radical re-examination of the standard practices adopted in qualitative interview research…. Although telling stories is common in everyday conversation (Gee, 1986; Polanyi, 1985) Mishler noted that many forms of research interview suppress stories either by ‘training’ the interviewee to limit answers to short statements, or by interrupting narratives when they occurs. (Elliot 2005:21)

As for the validity of the narrative research methods Elliot (2005:23) agrees with the view that narrative interviews empower the respondents to set the agenda and prevent respondents’ experiences from becoming fragmented (Graham, 1984; Mishler, 1986) Both of these considerations imply that the interviews that attend to an individual’s narratives could produce data which are more accurate, trustful, or trustworthy than structured interviews that ask each respondent a standardized set of questions.

Smith (1996) supports this argument when she said:

By enabling women to tell their own stories and creating a context in which they felt comfortable exploring their feeling and experience I was able to learn more about those aspects of their lives which crucially affect their chances of success when they return to study. (Smith 1996:71)

Chase (1995a) commented on the relationship that exists between telling a life story and disclosing a culture that helps to develop an understanding of the struggles affecting a whole community.

Life stories themselves embody what we need to study: the relation between this particular life story and the social world the narrator share with others; the ways in which culture marks, shapes and/or contains this narrative; and the way in which this narrator makes use of cultural resources and struggles in cultural constraints. (Chase 1995a:20)

Narrative methods and observation were also combined with other tools to collect the data. The aim of narrative research is to come as close as possible to the meaning of subjective experience. It also focuses on studying people by listening which implies sensitivity to the unique characteristics of human experience (Riessman1993). Cortazzi and Jin (2006:28) support four arguments for the importance of narrative research.

First, narrative research – unlike factual analysis – focuses qualitatively on participants’ experiences and meanings given by them to that experience.

Secondly, narrative research is often concerned with representation and voice. This means that the focus is on the stories or experiences of particular groups of teachers or learners, often minorities, ‘others’ who are seen as different, or those voices might otherwise go unheard or unnoticed.

Thirdly, a collection of narratives of personal experiences of learning in education often has a characteristic that many educational researchers fail to emphasise when they conduct quantitative or qualitative studies.

Fourthly, a narrative perspective on learning allows the exploration of research on activity itself as a story. That is, much qualitative research is reported and presented as a story, with a kind of constructed plot, in a rhetorical design aimed at presenting readers of the interest, if not the truth of the research. (Trahar 2006:29)

With this method I was able carefully listen to and record data from all the informants especially through face-to-face interviews using an open-ended questionnaire. The arguments put forward by the above authors justify why I chose to use narrative research as one of the methodologies that allows the voices of the interviewees to be heard.

The hypothesis

In association with the theoretical work on research methods used in this study I now state the hypothesis on which it is based.

Many obstacles including historical, social, cultural/religious and economic ones, have hindered, and continue to hinder, the development of female education in Burkina Faso. However, faith-based organizations, especially evangelical ones like the Assemblies of God, have shown, and are continuing to show, innovative ways to improve girls’ and women’s education¹¹ in the country.

The aim of the study is to examine the place of female education in the context of Burkina Faso. This reflects the importance of women in socio-economic development through the use of a combination of secondary data collection as well as qualitative and quantitative methods, and explores the ways in which evangelical churches have led, and continue to lead, the development of female education as well as reflecting on whether their approach points to a sustainable future.

The geographical catchment area for the data collection was an average of two hundred kilometres from the capital city to the north of Burkina Faso. Girls, individual women and focus groups were interviewed face to face using female assistance whenever possible to collect their opinions. Parents, past and present pupils, Church leaders, Christian NGOs, women’s associations and government employees in the field were approached. For the primary data collection of different samples at each level of inquiry, I contacted these educationalists in order to find out from them how they perceived the different obstacles facing girls and women in education, and how the church and other organizations, including individuals, contributed to overcoming these obstacles.

Qualitative research meant looking into formal and non-formal systems of education, especially relating to girls and women. Face-to-face interviews representing a cross-section understanding of the research questions were taken across the country to reflect a wider view, both in urban and rural areas. That sampling covered basic, post-primary and secondary levels of education. In order to find evidence to support the hypothesis, interviews were conducted with key informants whose contributions are largely recorded in chapters 5, 6 and 7.

At primary school level this involved parents, school teachers, and church leaders, pupils, government officials, inspectorates, NGOs and communities. At the post-primary and secondary levels, present pupils, parents, and school principals, ex-students in employment, government education officials, and church leaders were contacted with an appropriate open-ended questionnaire to catch up on their life stories and insights looking for evidence for the general hypothesis. Through oral narratives and any written information that was available I sought to find out whether, and how, Christian education helps to overcome obstacles and increases girls’ and women’s enrolment in education programmes.

Evidence of best practices concerning the strategies and vision of the church leaders about women’s education were collected at community level, both within and outside Christian circles. These informants were selected and chosen to participate in the study because many found in the process that a researcher was interested in hearing their stories, and they seized the opportunity to reveal their inner feelings, hurts, struggles or joys they had lived with for years and that nobody else had researched. The techniques used have captured the voice of the unheard.

That experience in itself was revealed to be empowering because through the local church and the help of NGOs girls and women could now speak with confidence about their past and present lives. Apart from the formal side where one focus group was mixed and the pupils present were girls, all other interviews were either one-to-one interviews, or in the case of the rural women, only women were present. The literacy coordinator was interviewed separately. In this way they were all free to express themselves without fear of being intimidated by the presence of men.

Difficulties and limitations in the field

This research required the use of three languages: Mooré¹² (the main national language in Burkina Faso), French and English. Interviews were conducted in Mooré for the non-formal education part which was conducted in rural areas and among women, village church leaders, and adult literacy coordinators who did not speak French. I conducted the interviews with present and past pupils, women, parents, teachers and school principals. Inspectorates, government officials, and church leaders were interviewed in French, the official language of Burkina Faso. While I was in the UK for study-residence I requested assistants to collect data for me. I also conducted focus groups’ discussions using an audio recorder and face-to-face interviews. These primary sources were then transcribed into English through manual translation (i.e. listening to the tape and writing the equivalent by hand in English). They were typed on a word processor for data analysis.

Existing written materials are scarce for