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Failing to progress or progressing to fail? Age-for-grade heterogeneity and grade repetition in primary schools in Karonga district, northern Malawi

Author

Listed:
  • Sunny, Bindu S.
  • Elze, Markus
  • Chihana, Menard
  • Gondwe, Levie
  • Crampin, Amelia C.
  • Munkhondya, Masoyaona
  • Kondowe, Scotch
  • Glynn, Judith R.

Abstract

Timely progression through school is an important measure for school performance, completion and the onset of other life transitions for adolescents. This study examines the risk factors for grade repetition and establishes the extent to which age-for-grade heterogeneity contributes to subsequent grade repetition at early and later stages of school. Using data from a demographic surveillance site in Karonga district, northern Malawi, a cohort of 8174 respondents (ages 5–24 years) in primary school was followed in 2010 and subsequent grade repetition observed in 2011. Grade repetition was more common among those at early (grades 1–3) and later (grades 7–8) stages of school, with little variation by sex. Being under-age or over-age in school has different implications on schooling outcomes, depending on the stage of schooling. After adjusting for other risk factors, boys and girls who were under-age at early stages were at least twice as likely to repeat a grade as those at the official age-for-grade (girls: adjusted OR 2.06 p<0.01; boys: adjusted OR 2.37 p<0.01); while those over-age at early stages were about 30% less likely to repeat (girls: adjusted OR 0.65 p<0.01; boys: adjusted OR 0.72 p<0.01). Being under/over-age at later grades (4–8) was not associated with subsequent repetition but being over-age was associated with dropout. Other risk factors identified that were associated with repetition included both family-level factors (living away from their mother, having young children in the household, lower paternal education) and school-level factors (higher student-teacher ratio, proportion of female teachers and schools without access to water). Reducing direct and indirect costs of schooling for households; and improving school quality and resources at early stages of school may enable timely progression at early stages for greater retention at later stages.

Suggested Citation

  • Sunny, Bindu S. & Elze, Markus & Chihana, Menard & Gondwe, Levie & Crampin, Amelia C. & Munkhondya, Masoyaona & Kondowe, Scotch & Glynn, Judith R., 2017. "Failing to progress or progressing to fail? Age-for-grade heterogeneity and grade repetition in primary schools in Karonga district, northern Malawi," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 68-80.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:injoed:v:52:y:2017:i:c:p:68-80
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2016.10.004
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. World Bank, 2010. "The Education System in Malawi," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 5937, April.
    2. repec:aer:wpaper:173 is not listed on IDEAS
    3. Deon Filmer & Lant Pritchett, 2001. "Estimating Wealth Effects Without Expenditure Data—Or Tears: An Application To Educational Enrollments In States Of India," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 38(1), pages 115-132, February.
    4. Patrinos, Harry Anthony & Psacharopoulos, George, 1992. "Socioeconomic and ethnic determinants of grade repetition in Bolivia and Guatemala," Policy Research Working Paper Series 1028, The World Bank.
    5. Peter Glick & David E. Sahn, 2010. "Early Academic Performance, Grade Repetition, and School Attainment in Senegal: A Panel Data Analysis," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 24(1), pages 93-120, January.
    6. Nicola Branson & Clare Hofmeyr & David Lam, 2014. "Progress through school and the determinants of school dropout in South Africa," Development Southern Africa, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(1), pages 106-126, January.
    7. Alain Mingat & Kirsten Majgaard, 2012. "Education in Sub-Saharan Africa : A Comparative Analysis," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 13143, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Estelle McLean & Maria Sironi & Emma Slaymaker & Rebecca Sear & Albert Dube & Amelia C Crampin, 2024. "Transitions to adulthood in men and women in rural Malawi in the 21st century using sequence analysis: Some evidence of delay," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 51(14), pages 459-500.
    2. Heleen Hofmeyr, 2020. "South Africa’s Pro-Girl Gap in PIRLS and TIMSS: How Much Can Be Explained?," Working Papers 17/2020, Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics.
    3. Kyereko, Daniel Owusu & Smith, William C. & Hlovor, Ishmael & Keney, Gabriel, 2022. "Understanding grade repetition from the perspectives of teachers and principals in basic schools in Ghana," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    4. Tomasz Janusz Gajderowicz & Maciej Jan Jakubowski, 2022. "Jordan and Lebanon Performance in International Student Assessments," World Bank Publications - Reports 37631, The World Bank Group.
    5. repec:plo:pone00:0193376 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Hoque, Nurzamal & Mahanta, Ratul & Sarkar, Dipanwita, 2022. "Does free education reduce early school dropouts? Evidence from a legislative reform in India," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 657-665.
    7. Servaas van der Berg & Gabrielle Wills & Rebecca Selkirk & Charles Adams & Chris van Wyk, 2019. "The cost of repetition in South Africa," Working Papers 13/2019, Stellenbosch University, Department of Economics.
    8. Hazal Colak Oz & Çiçek Güven & Gonzalo Nápoles, 2023. "School dropout prediction and feature importance exploration in Malawi using household panel data: machine learning approach," Journal of Computational Social Science, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 245-287, April.
    9. Judith R Glynn & Bindu S Sunny & Bianca DeStavola & Albert Dube & Menard Chihana & Alison J Price & Amelia C Crampin, 2018. "Early school failure predicts teenage pregnancy and marriage: A large population-based cohort study in northern Malawi," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(5), pages 1-17, May.
    10. Alamoodi, A.H. & Zaidan, B.B. & Zaidan, A.A. & Albahri, O.S. & Chen, Juliana & Chyad, M.A. & Garfan, Salem & Aleesa, A.M., 2021. "Machine learning-based imputation soft computing approach for large missing scale and non-reference data imputation," Chaos, Solitons & Fractals, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    11. Williams, Eunice Mueni & Padmadas, Sabu S. & Väisänen, Heini, 2024. "Falling behind in school: Mother’s economic empowerment and its association with children’s grade progression in Malawi," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    12. Chen, Qihui, 2020. "Am I Late for School? Peer Effects on Delayed School Entry in Rural Northwestern China," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304415, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    13. Carew, Mark T. & Rotenberg, Sara & Chen, Shanquan & Kuper, Hannah, 2024. "Counting who makes the grade: Updated estimates of the share of over-age for grade learners in sub-Saharan Africa using MICS6 data," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).

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