1. Education enables individuals and societies to
make a better use of their resources and to
realise their potential.
At the individual level, the degree of educational
attainment is usually associated with socio-
economic status.
At the societal level, the educational rank of a
group or a community is associated with
particular levels of socio-economic development.
2. Impact of Mother’s Education on
Family Size
Introduction
Education is one of the most important
means to improve the quality of life of
society and thus increased education is an
integral component of social and economic
development.
3. Education is a major engine of modernisation;
thus, societies may use their educational
institutions as important instruments to
accelerate the process of social change.
It has been observed that the education level
of societies is related to different stages of the
demography transition.
4. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
• With a population of 1.1 billion in 2013,
Africa’s population is projected to increase to
2.4 billion by 2050; making an addition of 1.3
billion which will be the largest addition for
any world region.
• The population of Sub-Saharan Africa was
growing at 2.7 per cent a year in 2013; as
against 1.2 per cent for the world.
5. • Similarly, the sub-Saharan African region has
the highest fertility rate in the world; a Total
Fertility Rate (TFR) of 5.2 per woman which
more than doubled the TFR of 2.5 for the
world, and is far more than the TFR of 2.9 for
West Asia, the region with the second highest
in 2013(PRB, 2013).
6. POPULATION GROWTH IN THE GAMBIA
The population of the Gambia was 1,882,450
people according to the 2013 census
preliminary results (GBoS, 2013).
“On average, the population of The Gambia
has been growing at the rate of 3.3 per cent
per annum during the inter-censal period
2003-2013” (GBoS, 2013).
7. This growth rate is the second highest in West
Africa exceeded by only Niger with a natural
increase rate of 3.8 (PRB, 2013).
The Crude Birth Rate (CBR) was 43 per thousand
while Total Fertility Rate (TFR) was 5.8 in 2013.
Crude Death Rate was estimated at 10 per 1000
in 2013.
The 2013 world population data sheet shows that
46 per cent of the population is below 15 years,
whilst only 2 per cent is above 65 years.
8. EDUCATION AND FERTILITY
A large body of research over the years has
revealed that in almost every setting,
regardless of region, culture or level of
development, well-educated women have a
greater say in their life, including their
reproductive life, and bear fewer children than
do uneducated or less educated women
(UNFPA,1991).
9. In settings where income and literacy are low
there appears to be threshold levels of
education that must be reached before
change in fertility and other aspects of
reproductive behaviour can occur (Ahmad et
al., 1995).
Several studies revealed an inverse
relationship between education and fertility;
that is, fertility decreases with increase in
educational level.
10. Generally, women with four to six, and seven
or more years of education has
substantially lower fertility than those with
less education but the range of values varied
from country to country (ESCAP, 1989).
The expected negative relationship did not
occur until a woman had completed four to six
years of education in Bangladesh, Fiji,
Indonesia and Pakistan. In these countries
short duration of schooling appeared to
increase fertility, whilst longer duration
tended to depress fertility (ESCAP, 1989).
11. A World Fertility Survey (WFS) in Indonesia
found no difference in fertility between
women with no education and women with
seven or more years of education.
The anomalous relation was ascribed to the
fact that, for the purpose of the survey, years
of exposure to religious education (Madrassa)
was equated with formal education.
It is considered that the longer the duration
of religious education, the more conservative
and traditional will be a woman’s values and
attitudes (ESCAP,1989).
12. STATEMENT OF THE OBJECTIVES
The primary objectives of this study are:
To identify the relationship between the
mother’s level of education and family size.
To identify the minimum period of schooling
required by the mother to make an impact on
family size.
To identify the relationship between the type
of school (English or Arabic) attended by the
mother and family size.
13. The indicators used in this study for assessing
the objectives mentioned above are:
• age at first marriage,
• age at the birth of the first child,
• number of children,
• duration of schooling, and
• the type of school attended.
14. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
o Considerable variations in fertility across the
country have been observed in the Gambia.
o According to the preliminary report of the
Gambia’s Demographic and Health Survey of
2013, “TFR for the three-year period before
the survey [was] 5.6 for the country as a
whole, 6.8 in rural areas, and 4.7 in urban
areas” (GBoS, 2013).
15. o Unfortunately, the report did not capture the
fertility differentials with respect to the levels
of education; though it observed that
“Women with secondary or higher education
are more likely to use a modern contraceptive
method [than those] with less education”
(GBoS, 2013).
o So in order to get a better understanding
about the impact of education on fertility a
micro level study is necessary where all the
respondents share the same geographical
setting.
16. o Accordingly, in this study an attempt has been
made to find out the effect of education on
fertility by examining the extent to which the
levels of education attained by women
influences family size.
o Thus, this study can serve as a useful indicator
of direction to pursue more rigorous studies
on the impact of mother’s education on
fertility in the Gambia.
17. METHODLOGY
To collect information about ‘The Impact of
Mother’s Education on Family Size’ the
descriptive survey method of collecting data was
employed.
The main tool used for data collection was that of
questionnaire survey.
Here, data collection is based mainly on personal
information collected from mothers of different
categories (Illiterates with no formal education,
Basic Cycle School Graduates Arabic & English,
Grade 12 Graduates Arabic & English, and Tertiary
Institution Graduates).
18. LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY
The study is confronted with certain
limitations such as lack of adequate resource
and time for effectively carrying out the study.
Due to these constraints the data collection
was done by geography students on voluntary
basis; as a result, the convenience of getting
the data was given more importance than
carrying out any formal sampling procedure.
19. . Coupled with these problems, the sample
size is also small (being a micro level study)
hence the results of the study is applicable
only to the study area.
20. RESULTS OF THE STUDY
The age at first marriage is of particular
significance in understanding fertility levels as
well as trends, since child bearing begins
when marriage takes place. Although some
child bearing occurs before marriage, it is not
common in the Gambian society.
21. Categories 14-19 20-25 26-30
No % No % No %
No Formal Education 8 13.3 2 3.3
Basic Education
Arabic
9 15 1 1.7
Basic Education
English
6 10 3 5 1 1.7
Secondary Education
Arabic
7 11.7 3 5
Secondary Education
English
4 6.7 5 8.3 1 1.7
Tertiary Education 2 3.3 5 8.3 3 5
Total 36 60% 19 31.7 5 8.3
23. From the figure, it can be seen that all the
respondents in three of the categories
(mothers with No Formal education, mothers
with basic Arabic and Secondary Arabic
education) got married before reaching the
age of twenty six years.
In fact 90% of mothers with Basic Arabic
education, 80% of mothers with no formal
education and 70% of mothers with secondary
Arabic education have reported to have got
married before the age of 20.
24. Similarly majority of mothers with Basic
English education (60%) got married before
attaining twenty years.
It is only among the mothers with secondary
education in English and tertiary education
that majority (50% each) reportedly got
married between 20 and 25 years of age.
The age at first marriage for mothers with no
formal education ranges from 14 to 22 and
the mean age at first marriage for the group is
only 17.4 years, the lowest for all the
categories.
25. In the case of mothers with Basic Arabic
education the age at first marriage ranges
from 14 to 21 years. As a result the mean age
at first marriage for this group is also low at
only 17.7 years.
Although the mean age at marriage is slightly
higher than that of mothers with no formal
education, a higher percentage of this group
got married in their teens (90%) than those
with no formal education (80%).
26. For mothers with secondary Ara bic education,
the age at first marriage ranges from 15-23
years which is higher than the range for the
first two categories.
Consequently, the mean age for the group is
18.5 years.
The age range for mothers with basic
education in English is from 18 to 26 years
which is slighlyhigher than the range for the
first three categories. As a result the mean age
at first marriage for the group is higher at 19.5
years.
27. The age range at first marriage for mothers
with secondary education in English is 18-26
years just like that of mothers with basic
education in English. However, the mean age
is higher at 21.3 years.
The age at first marriage for mothers with
tertiary education ranges from 18 to 29 years;
consequently the group has the highest mean
age of 23 years.
28. Categories 15-19 20-25 26-30 31-35
No % No % No % No %
No Formal Education 7 11.7 3 5
Basic Education
Arabic
6 10 4 6.7
Basic Education
English
3 5 6 10 1 1.7
Secondary Education
Arabic
5 8.3 4 6.7 1 1,7
Secondary Education
English
4 6.7 4 6.7 2 3.3
Tertiary Education 0 3.3 7 11.7 2 5 1 1.7
Total 25 41.7 28 46.7 6 10 1 1.7
