Gender Gap in Current School Enrolment in Cameroon: Selection Among "Irregular" Children?

Many developing countries face a pro-male gender gap in schooling, as boys are more likely to be enrolled at school than girls. This paper examines whether the current enrolment gap prevails equally both among children with a "regular" and an "irregular" schooling history. Children with a Regular schooling history are those who completed primary educa- tion between the ages of 12 and 15 years. Children with an Irregular schooling history are the rest. We investigate the gender gap in schooling empirically using data provided by the 2001 Cameroon Household Survey. The empirical framework allows for a different gender efect among regular and irregular children. It also accounts for selection into the two groups. Results show no male-female diference among regular children. Among irregular children however, females are more likely to stay out of schools. Our results suggest that, female children are given a schooling possibility to start with but are more exposed to dropping out if they display any form of irregularity in the course of their education.