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With the spread of formal schooling in sub-Saharan Africa and delays in the age at marriage, a growing proportion of adolescents remain enrolled in school when they "come of age." As a consequence, more and more adolescents have to negotiate sexual maturation and sexual initiation in a vastly different context from that of prior generations. Using data from the 2004 National Survey of Adolescents conducted in Burkina Faso, Ghana, Malawi, and Uganda, we investigate the empirical association between premarital sex and leaving school among those who were enrolled in school at the outset of adolescence (age 12). Discrete-time logistic regression models show that, in general, girls are more likely than boys to leave school before completing secondary school, before completing primary school, and, among those completing primary school, before progressing to secondary school. Girls who complete primary school, however, do so at the same age as or a younger age than their male peers. Girls appear more vulnerable to leaving school once they engage in premarital sex. These findings can assist researchers, policymakers, program managers, and educators in understanding and addressing the challenges to educational attainment posed by the increasing proportion of school-aged adolescents engaging in premarital sex.

Although a growing proportion of young people is spending some time in school between puberty and marriage, little research on education in developing countries has been focused on adolescent issues. This article examines the school environment in Kenya and the ways it can help or hinder adolescents. Gender differences are considered with a view toward illuminating some factors that may present particular obstacles or opportunities for girls. Using both qualitative and quantitative data, 36 primary schools in rural areas in three districts of Kenya are studied. These schools are chosen to reflect the spectrum of school quality in the country. The focus in this study is on primary schools because the majority of adolescents in school attend primary school. In these schools, where considerable variation in performance and parental educational status is found, disorganization coexists with strict punishment, minimal comforts are lacking, learning materials are scare, learning is by rote, and sex education is not provided. In the primary-school-leaving exam, girls' performance is poorer than that of boys. Teachers' attitudes and behavior reveal lower expectations for adolescent girls, traditional assumptions about gender roles, and a double standard about sexual activity.