The centrality of quality education provisioning for all towards a better and socially
just life is acknowledged globally. To date, however, there are still skewed gender
differentials unfavourable to girls, thus impeding gender equality. In this paper I
report on the reasons for leaving school early cited by out-of-school girls in North-
West Province, South Africa. These reasons are juxtaposed against those cited by
out-of-school boys to show how powerful gender as ‘positioning in discourses’ appears
to be. Structured focus group interviews using the adapted version of
‘Masitsa’s inventory’ were conducted. Qualitative data were coded and analysed
based on frequency tables. The findings reveal that more girls than boys say they
leave school early owing to: repeated failure; long distance to and from school;
pregnancy; poverty; ill-health; attraction of odd jobs; looking after siblings; lack of
motivation; early marriage, and criminal activity. The conclusion, therefore, is that
if schools in the context of the community can become sustainable learning
environments privileging girls’ concerns, they can assist in resolving these problems
of skewed gender differentials. This could lead towards achievement of a socially
just life for all.

doi: 10.15700/saje.v31n3a535