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In this paper, the author examines the characteristics of school heads and their schools in 15 African schools systems (Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zanzibar and Zimbabwe). The data for this study were collected in 2007 as part of a major project known as the SACMEQ III Project that sought to examine the quality of education offered in primary schools in these school systems as well as the conditions of schooling in these systems. (SACMEQ is an acronym for Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality). The results revealed large variations in characteristics of school heads among these school systems in terms of their personal characteristics (age and gender), academic education, pre-service training, and special training on school management. Most SACMEQ school systems had large gender imbalances in school head positions in favour of males. In addition, the results revealed considerable variations among these school systems in terms of conditions of school buildings, provision of teachers, provisions toilets, and pupils’ and teachers’ behavioural problems. The most common pupils’ and teachers’ behavioural problems in these school systems were lateness to school, absenteeism, and skipping of classes. School systems with high levels of teachers’ problems tended to have higher levels of pupils’ problems, and vice versa.

This document, not published by IIEP, has been presented on the occasion of the IIEP Policy Forum on Gender Equality in Education held on the 3-4 October, 2011 in Paris, France. The views and opinions expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of UNESCO or IIEP. The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this review do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO or IIEP concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or its authorities, or concerning its frontiers or boundaries

In a hypothetical school system that had perfect levels of “gender equity” (with respect to staffing and promotion policies) it would be expected that about 50 percent of the school heads and about 50 percent of the teachers would be female. However, some educationists might argue that this form of equal representation may be undesirable in primary schools. For example, Zhang et al (2008) contend that one would expect more female teachers at the primary school level because in many countries female teachers (perhaps because of their motherly connection with young children) are often reported to produce better pupil educational outcomes.

Policy Brief Number 6 This policy brief deals with progress in ‘gender equality’ in primary education for the six divisions in Malawi by seeking answers to the following specific questions