Childhood learning, life skills and well‐being in adult life

A Senegalese case

Bibliographic Data

ID11893568
AuthorsHolger Daun (Institute of International Education, corresponding author)
Year2010
Volume46
Issue4
Pages409-428
Publication date2010-11-01
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueComparative Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0305-0068 • E-ISSN: 1360-0486
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/03050068.2010.519477
OpenAlexW2063983200
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited14

Education is not easily converted into human capital and well‐being in low‐income countries, because these countries do not have a high degree of economic and labour market differentiation that makes it possible to convert acquired knowledge and skills. Consequently, to have completed primary or even secondary education does not necessarily lead to a better life situation than some types of Islamic education. This paper reports findings from an ongoing longitudinal research project in Senegal. The study compares the relationships between educational/learning background, life skills and well‐being in adult life among individuals who attended primary school, Quranic, Arabic or Indigenous learning systems at the beginning of the 1980s. The findings illustrate some of the complexities in the relationships between, on the one hand, education and life skills and, on the other hand, individual well‐being in a low‐income society. Since this study enters into an area that has not been very much researched, this study is explorative and employs concepts heuristically. Some findings in relation to different theoretical approaches are also discussed here. Notes 1. The term ‘educational arrangements’ here is used to include informal and traditional educational arrangements (e.g., rites of passage, circumcision, etc.) as well as those found in formal educational institutions. 2. In mathematics, the three items had the following form: (1) Ali’s sister has bought bread for 350 francs CFA. She has 250 francs CFA in her purse. How much is lacking? (2) Karim has bought eight breads for 200 francs CFA each. How much does he have to pay? (3) In the market, Ali has bought a package of tea for 200 francs CFA, a notebook for 500 francs CFA and a bag for 100 francs CFA. How much does he have to pay? The health skills test included items such as: A child who has measles, can he contaminate to other children playing with him? Yes, no, don’t know. Diarrhoea kills many babies in our country. Two ways of treating sick babies are: (a) cover it because it perspires, (b) make it drink boiled water with salt or sugar, (c) make it eat rice or carrot soup, d) give it nothing to eat or dink until the diarrhoea has disappeared. The doctor has arrived at school in order to vaccinate the children. Why is it important to vaccinate them: (a) to make them grow, (b) to make them avoid catching certain severe illnesses, (c) to make them more intelligent, (d) to cure certain severe illnesses? The agricultural skills test included items such as: Which insects among the following ones destroy the harvest and agricultural plants: (a) mosquitoes, (b) flies, (c) grasshoppers, (d) butterflies? Amina’s family want to get a better harvest of wheat than last year. Which are the three means to make this possible: (a) weed the field, (b) sow during the dry season, (c) sow in the middle of the dry season, (d) put fertilizers in the field, (e) irrigate the field, (f) sow during the rainy season? The political skills test included items such as: The head of state of our country is: (a) king, (b) president, (c) judge, (d) colonel, (e) prime minister, (f) I don’t know. 3. For estimating the levels on the life situation items relative to test scores, the following procedures were made. The group’s value on the life situation items (either percentage or mean) was related to life skill scores. When analysing income and overall test scores for those with incomplete primary education (IP), for instance, the index was estimated in the following way: For example, if average income among those with IP is 240,000 and the average income for all participants is 280,000, the index for those with IP is If those with IP have 34.2 as average test score and all individuals have 34.8, then the index for IP is Income among those with IP in relation to their own test scores and average income and test scores of all others

Economic growth · Economics · Human capital · Indigenous · Life skills · Lifelong learning · Mathematics education · Pedagogy · Sociology · Intergenerational and Educational Inequality Studies · Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare · Psychology · Youth Education and Societal Dynamics

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