Chapter 12: Construction of Gendered Education Among Abantu Cultures of Southern Africa

This chapter focuses on the construction of gendered education among abantu (people) communities of Southern Africa. The chapter then examines gendered perspectives in social and education roles including their interchangeability between males and females in some contexts such as motherhood and fatherhood education in a collectivistic cultural milieu. The chapter recognizes the important role of schools as powerful agents of socialization teaching children about the culture of the society in which they live, including normative gender roles. It then examines the evidence on school education enrollment and retention by gender from illustrative examples from countries such as Botswana, Malawi, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The data shows girls to enroll and remain in school marginally more than the boys. The evidence suggests that gender equity in school enrollment and retention which until recent times been rampant among sub-Saharan Africa countries; may be a thing of the past.