Reading and numeracy skills after school leaving in southern Malawi: A longitudinal analysis

The extent to which skills acquired during schooling are retained after school-leaving in developing countries remains largely unknown. Using a longitudinal dataset of Malawian adolescents aged 14-17 attending school when first interviewed in 2007, we investigate whether literacy and numeracy skills at school leaving were retained several years after. We find a significant gender difference in skill level after school leaving for English skills, even after controlling for initial skill level and grade attainment, with females scoring lower than males. Although the gender difference in numeracy is not significant, females score lower than males after school leaving.