01 AccessEd

The State of Education Series
Access to
Education
A Global Report
November 2012
Access to Education: Indicators

This presentation includes data on:
Total enrollments by region
Out of School Children (OOS) of primary

school age
Net Enrollment Rates (NER)/Gross

Enrollment Rates (GER)
Correlations between GDP per capita and

enrollment rates for each educational level
Education equality: Income/gender/location

disparities in education access
Acronym Guide
Acronym
Name
EAP
East Asia and Pacific
ECA
Europe and Central Asia
LAC
Latin American and the Caribbean
MNA
SAS
SSA
WLD
GER
NER
OOS
GNI p.c.
NAR
GAR
GPI
Middle East and North Africa

South Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa
World (Global Aggregate)
Gross Enrollment Rate
Net Enrollment Rate
Out of School
Gross National Income per capita
Net Attendance Rate
Gross Attendance Ratio
Gender Parity Index (female value/male
value)
Summary
Less than half of the worlds pre-primary age

students were enrolled in pre-primary education in
2010 (48.3%), but enrolment rates have been rising
over time. SSA and MNAs enrolment rates lag far
behind other regions with less than of pre-primary
age children enrolled.
In 2010, 90.7% of primary age students worldwide
were enrolled in school. The rate has improved
since 2000 (84.5%), but little progress has been
made since 2008.
60.7 million primary school age children were out of

school (OOS) in 2010. Over half of the world's out
of school children live in SSA and over 1/5 live in
South Asia.
Since 2008, the global rate of children out of school

has remained the same at 9.3%.
Summary
(continued)
62.5% of secondary school age students were

enrolled in 2010, which was an 9.4 percentage point
improvement over 2000. SSA lags far behind other
regions in secondary enrollments with just over of
students enrolled in 2010.
The global tertiary gross enrollment rate (GER) has
gradually improved from 19% in 2000 to 29.2% in
2010 but GERs vary greatly across regions. More
than half of youth are enrolled in ECA (55.6%)
compared to 6.8% of youth in SSA.
On the global level, gender parity in pre-primary
and primary enrolment rates has been achieved.
There is a small male bias in secondary enrolment
rates (GPI = 0.96) and a female bias in tertiary
enrolments (GPI = 1.08).
Pre-Primary
Education
How many children are enrolled in

pre-primary education?
Around 164 million

children were enrolled in
pre-primary education in
2010. This is up from
134 million in 2005 and
112 million in 1999.
Over half of enrolled
students were in either
SAS or EAP (48 and 40
million respectively).
25% of total pre-primary
enrollments were in
India and 16% were in
China.
79 million (48.2%) were
girls.
Share of Total Pre-Primary Enrollments by Region (%)

2010
SSA; 8%
EAP; 24%
SAS; 29%
ECA; 6%
MNA; 2%
LAC; 13%
HIC; 18%
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, November 2012;

Notes: Regional aggregates are World Bank regions;
HIC = high income countries in all geographic regions.
How many children are enrolled?

Pre-Primary Gross Enrolment Rates (GER)
Globally, less than half of

pre-primary age students
were enrolled in preprimary education in
2010, but all regions
increased pre-primary
enrolments between
2000 and 2010.
SAS almost doubled its

pre-primary GER
between 2000 (25.4%)
and 2010 (48.3%).
LACs GERs are

consistently the highest
among regions ranging
from 56.8% to 70.1%.
SSA and MNA lag behind

other regions with 17.7%
and 23.8% GERs
respectively in 2010.
Pre-Primary Gross Enrolment Rates have

increased in all regions since 2000
EAP
ECA
LAC
MNA
SAS
SSA
WLD
Which countries have the lowest

pre-primary enrollment rates?
8 of the 10 countries
with the lowest preprimary net enrolment
rates (NER) are in SSA.
10 Countries with the Lowest PrePrimary Net Enrollment Rates

1
Yemen, Rep.
0.35
Of the 130 countries

with data, 18 countries
had less than 10% of
their children enrolled in
pre-primary education.
36 countries had less
than 25% of their
children enrolled in preprimary.
19 countries had preprimary enrollments
higher than 90%.
Chad
1.77
Burkina Faso
2.75
Mali
3.37
Djibouti
3.41
Cote d'Ivoire
3.54
Ethiopia
3.92
Guinea-Bissau
4.68
Niger
4.76
Central African Republic
5.64
(2009-2011)
10
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, Nov 2012

Notes: Purple data is for 2011; Black is 2010; Blue is 2009;
Data were not available for 84 of 214 countries.
Which countries have increased preprimary enrollment rates the most?
These countries
have increased their
pre-primary GERs
by 25 to 66
percentage points
between 1999-2001
and 2009-2011.
Half of the countries
at least doubled
their NER over time.
Algeria improved
from 3.4% to 66%
a 1928%
improvement.
Only two of these
countries have a
current NER over
90% Barbados
and Maldives.
10 Countries with the Most

Improvement in Pre-Primary
Net Enrollment Rates
Percentage 1999Points
2001
Improved NER
20092011
NER
%
Improved
1 Algeria
66.1
3.4
69.5
1927.9
2 Korea, Rep.
41.0
44.0
85.0
93.0
3 Moldova
37.3
36.8
74.0
101.4
4 Barbados
33.6
62.1
95.7
54.0
5 Sao Tome & Principe
32.4
24.2
56.5
133.8
6 Maldives
30.8
61.4
92.2
50.1
7 Mongolia
29.1
28.4
57.5
102.5
8 Nicaragua
26.7
28.6
55.4
93.5
9 Ghana
26.0
21.5
47.5
120.7
10 Uruguay
25.4
52.9
78.3
48.0
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, November 2012;

Note: Data were not available for 118 of 213 countries.
Net Enrollment Rate. Pre-Primary (%)
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, 2012

Note: Data displayed is for the latest available year (2008-2011)
The maps displayed were produced by EdStats. The boundaries, colors, denominations and any
other information shown on this map do not imply, on the part of the World Bank Group, any
judgment on the legal status of any territory, or any endorsement or acceptance of such boundaries.
The maps are for reference only.
Are lower pre-primary enrollment rates

related to lower national income per capita?
All the low income

countries ($1025 or less)
have less than 16% of
children enrolled in preprimary education except
Gambia (27%), Kenya
(29%), and Tanzania
(33%).
24 countries had NERs
less than 15%. Only 4 of
those had GNI per capita
higher than $1100. All the
countries were lower
than $4780 (Bosnia).
All of the countries with
NERs higher than 90%
had GNI greater than
$12,000 except Thailand,
Grenada, and Maldives.
All low income countries had less than one-third of

children enrolled in pre-primary education.
100
R = 0.23
Norway
80
Net Enrollment Rate. Pre-Primary. Total
Switzerland
60
Australia
Qatar
40
Ireland
20
0
0
10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000 80000 90000
GNI per capita,

Atlas
method
(current
US$) in EdStats, Nov. 2012
Source:
UNESCO
Institute
for Statistics
Note: Data is for the most recent year between 2009 and 2011.
Do gender disparities exist in preprimary enrollment rates?
Gender parity indices

(GPIs) are calculated by
dividing the female value
for an indicator by the
male value, so perfect
gender parity equals 1.
A value below 1
indicates a bias toward
males. A value above 1
females.
Globally, the GPI has

been increasing from .98
in 2000 to perfect
gender parity (1.0) in
2010.
Gender parity in pre-primary enrolments (1.0) has

been achieved globally and in most regions.
Female Bias
Gender Parity Index (GPI) for Gross Enrolment Ratio. Pre-Primary
Most regions are very

close to gender parity
(+/- 0.02) in 2010. Only
MNA lags behind.
Male Bias
WLD
EAP
ECA
LAC
MNA
SAS
SSA
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, Novemb er 2012
Do rural/urban disparities exist in preprimary attendance rates in ECA?

% of 3 to 4 year olds attending any type of preprimary education program
Source: Demographic and Health Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys In World Inequality Database on Education (WIDE), Nov. 2012
Do income disparities exist in preprimary attendance rates in SSA?

% of 3 to 4 year olds attending any type of preprimary education program
Source: Demographic and Health Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys In World Inequality Database on Education (WIDE), Nov.
Primary
Education

primary schools?
Around 691 million

children were enrolled in
primary school in 2010.
This is up from 685
million in 2005 and 655
million in 2000.
Over half of enrolled
students were in either
SAS or EAP (182 and
172 million respectively).
21% of total primary
enrollments were in
India and 15% were in
China.
330 million (47.7%) were
girls.
Share of Total Primary Enrollments

by Region (%)
2010
HIC; 11%
EAP; 25%
SAS; 26%
ECA; 3%
LAC; 10%
SSA; 20%
MNA; 5%

Have primary enrolments improved?
Primary Adjusted Net Enrollment Rates (ANER)
In 2010, 90.7% of
primary school age
children around the
world were enrolled in
primary or secondary
education.
This figure rose each

year between 1999
(83.7%) and 2008, but
the figure remained
unchanged between
2008 and 2010.
All regions have

increased ANERs since
2000, but SSA and SAS
improved the most 16
percentage points in
SSA and 14 percentage
points in SAS.
Continued
Primary Enrolment Rates have increased since

2000, but little progress has been made since 2008.
Adjusted Net Enrolment Rate. Primary. Total (%)
EAP
ECA
LAC
MNA
SAS
SSA
WLD
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, November 2012
Have primary enrolments improved?
Primary Adjusted Net Enrollment Rates (ANER)
Since 2008, SSA has

only improved by 0.1%
and SAS by 0.4%.
SAS's improvement
moved it closer to other
regions by 2010
(92.3%), but SSA still
lags far behind with a
ANER of 76.2% in
2010.
ECAs ANER peaked in

2002 at 96.6% and has
been lower since.
EAP and LAC are the

only 2 regions with
ANERs higher than
95% in 2010.
Primary Enrolment Rates have increased since

2000, but little progress has been made since 2008.
Adjusted Net Enrolment Rate. Primary. Total (%)
EAP
ECA
LAC
MNA
SAS
SSA
WLD

primary enrollment rates?
In the top 2 countries

(Eritrea and Djibouti),
less than half of primary
school age children are
enrolled in primary
school.
10 Countries with the Lowest

Primary Enrollment Rates
(2009-2011)
Eritrea
34.9
Djibouti
44.6
All of the countries with

the lowest adjusted net
enrollment rates (ANER)
are in SSA except
Djibouti.
Equatorial Guinea
56.3
Nigeria
57.6
Cote d'Ivoire
61.5
Niger
62.5
Of the 20 countries with

the lowest primary
ANERs,15 are in SSA.
Burkina Faso
63.2
Mali
67.2
68.9
Gambia, The
69.3
There is a large range

among the listed
countries: #10 Gambias
ANER almost doubles
#1 Eritreas.
10

Notes: Data is Adjusted Net Enrolment Rate. Primary (ANER);
Purple figures are for 2011; Black = 2010; Blue = 2009.
Which countries have increased

primary enrollment rates the most?
These countries have

increased their
primary ANERs by 22
to 42 percentage
points between
1999/2000 and
2010/2011.
1
Ethiopia and Niger
2
more than doubled
their ANERs, but more 3
than 1/3 of children
4
are still not enrolled in
5
Niger.
6
Only Zambia has
increased its ANER to 7
over 90%. All the
8
countries need to
continue improving to
9
reach universal
10
primary enrolment.

Improvement in Primary
Enrollment Rates
Percentage
Points
Improved
1999/
2000
ANER
2010/
2011
ANER
%
Improved
Ethiopia
41.8
40.4
82.2
103.4
Niger
35.4
27.1
62.5
130.5
Mozambique
33.9
56.0
89.8
60.5
Bhutan
30.8
58.5
89.3
52.7
Guinea
30.1
46.9
77.0
64.1
Burkina Faso
28.7
34.5
63.2
83.0
Mali
25.0
42.2
67.2
59.1
Guinea-Bissau
23.8
51.2
75.0
46.5
Zambia
21.7
71.0
92.7
30.6
Yemen, Rep.
21.5
56.7
78.2
37.8
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, Nov. 2012;

Notes: Purple is 2011/1999 data; Black is 2010/2000;
Adjusted Net Enrollment Rate. Primary (%)
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, 2012

Do countries with low national income per

capita have low primary enrollments?
Low income does not

necessarily indicate
lower primary enrolment
rates: Countries with the
lowest gross national
income (GNI) per capita
(<$500) have ANERs
ranging from 35%
(Eritrea) to 97.5%
(Malawi).
Countries with the
lowest primary ANERs
(less than 75%) have
GNI p.c. less than
$1270. Equatorial
Guinea is the only
exception with 56.3%
primary ANER and
$14,540 GNI pc.
There is no clear association between low national

income p.c. and low primary enrollment rates.
100
R = 0.1
90
Adjusted Net Enrollment Rate. Primary. Total
Macao, China SAR
80
70
60
Nigeria
Equitorial Guinea
50
Djibouti
40
Eritrea
30
0
5000 10000 15000 20000 25000 30000 35000 40000 45000 50000 55000
GNI per capita, Atlas method (current US$)
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, Nov. 2012

Note: ANER data are for the most recent year between 2009 and 2011
Which regions have reached gender

parity in primary enrollments?
Gender parity indices

(GPIs) are calculated by
dividing the female value
for an indicator by the
male value, so perfect
gender parity equals 1.
A value below 1
males. A value above 1
females.
Globally, the GPI has

been increasing from .93
in 1999 to .98 in 2010.
Most regions are very

close to gender parity
(+/- 0.03). Only MNA and
SSA lag behind.
All regions except MNA and SSA are within 0.03 of

gender parity in primary enrollments.
Female Bias
Gender Parity Index (GPI) for Adjusted Net Enrolment Rate. Primary
Male Bias
EAP, ECA, and LAC

have achieved gender
WLD
EAP
ECA
LAC
MNA
SAS
SSA
Have most countries reached gender

parity in primary enrollments?
Half of countries with

data have already
achieved gender parity
(+/- .02).
78% of countries with
data are within 0.05 of
gender parity.
Many more countries
have a bias toward
males in primary
enrolments (GPI<1).
Afghanistan has the
largest male bias at .69
followed by Central
African Rep. and Chad
at .73.
San Marino has the
highest female bias at
1.134.
78% of countries are within 0.05 of gender parity in

primary enrollments.
1.15
1.10
Gender Parity Index (GPI) for Gross Enrolment Ratio. Primary
Female
Bias
1.05
1.00
Male Bias
0.95
0.90
0.85
0.80
0.75
0.70
0.65
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, September, 2012 Note: Data points are the most recent year with data available (2008-2011)
Which countries have the largest gender

disparities in primary enrolment rates?
The male primary

gross enrolment rate
in these countries is
much higher than the
female gross
enrolment rate.
7 of 10 countries are
in SSA. 2 are in
South Asia and 1 is in
MNA.
Of the 20 countries
with the lowest GPIs
(GPI<0.9),14 are in
SSA, 2 are in SAS, 2
are in EAP (Togo and
PNG), and 1 is in
LAC (Dominican
Republic).
10 Countries with the Largest Gender

Disparities in Primary Enrollment Rates
(2008-2011)
Afghanistan
0.694
0.725
Chad
0.729
Angola
0.813
Yemen, Rep.
0.817
Pakistan
0.818
Cote d'Ivoire
0.833
Niger
0.837
Guinea
0.838
10
Eritrea
0.838
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, September 2012;

Notes: Data is GPI for Primary Gross Enrolment Rate; Black figures are 2011
data; Blue=2010; Data were not available for 71 of 214 countries.
Which countries have decreased

gender disparity in primary the most?

moved from 0.14 to
0.25 percentage
points closer to
gender parity (1)
between 2000/2001
and the most recent
data year.
6 of the 10 countries
are in SSA; 2 are in
MNA and 2 in South
Asia.
Senegal now has
higher female
enrollment rates than
male enrollment rates
(1.06).
Burundi and India
have reached gender
parity.
10 Countries with the Most Improvement

Toward Gender Parity in Primary
Enrollments
Percentage 2000 or Most
Points
2001 current
Improved
GPI
GPI
%
Improved
Sierra Leone
0.25
0.67
0.93
37.53
Ethiopia
0.22
0.69
0.91
32.73
Burkina Faso
0.20
0.73
0.93
27.50
Benin
0.20
0.67
0.87
29.66
Yemen, Rep.
0.19
0.63
0.82
30.55
Burundi
0.19
0.80
0.99
23.64
Senegal
0.17
0.89
1.06
19.31
India
0.15
0.85
1.00
17.61
Pakistan
0.15
0.67
0.82
21.79
0.14
0.76
0.90
18.84
10 Djibouti
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, Sept. 2012;

Notes: Most current GPI is the most recent data point for 2008-2011;
Do gender, income, or location disparities

exist in primary attendance rates?
EAP, ECA, LAC, and

MNA do not have large
disparities in primary net
attendance rates (NAR)
between genders,
rural/urban locations, or
top/bottom income
quintiles.
The largest disparities in

most regions are
associated with income.
In SSA and SAS, there
is a 20 percentage point
difference between the
top/bottom income
quintiles.
Rural students in SSA

also have NARs that are
12 percentage points
lower than urban
Gender, income and location disparities are small in

all regions except except SAS and SSA.
Gender disparity
Location disparity
Income disparity
Percentage Point Difference in Net Attendance Rate. Primary

(Male-Female, Urban-Rural, and Quintile 1-Quintile 5)
Source: Estimated b y Porta (2011) using data from Demographic and Health
Surveys, Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, and Living Standards
Measurement Studies for 1985-2007
Which regions have the highest

percentage of children out-of-school?
In 1999, 16% of
primary school age
children were OOS.
42% of children in SSA
and almost a quarter of
children in SAS were
OOS.
By 2010, 9.3% of
children were OOS
globally, but SSAs rate
was still much higher at
23.8%.
Most of the progress in

reducing the rate of
children OOS occurred
between 1999 and
2008. Since 2008,
global and regional
rates have basically
remained the same.
Rates of Children Out-of-School have decreased

since 1999, but progress has slowed since 2008.
WLD
EAP
ECA
LAC
MNA
SAS
SSA
Which countries have highest rates of

children out-of-school?
More than half of primaryschool age children are

out of school in Eritrea
and Djibouti.
10 Countries with the Highest

Rates of Children Out-of School
(2009-2011)
Eritrea
65.1
More than a quarter of

primary school aged
children are out-of-school
in 14 countries.
Djibouti
55.4
Equatorial Guinea
43.7
Nigeria
42.4
47 countries have more

than 10% of children outof-school.
Cote d'Ivoire
38.5
Niger
37.5
Nine of ten countries are

in SSA.
Burkina Faso
36.8
Mali
32.8
31.1
Gambia, The
30.7
10

Notes: Data displayed is the most current year available; Purple is
2011; Black is 2010; Blue is 2009; Green is 2008; Data was not
available for 61 of 214 countries.
Out-of-school rate for children of

primary school age (%)

Which region has the most out of

school (OOS) children?
In 2010, of the worlds

out-of-school (OOS)
children lived in two
regions: SSA and SAS.
Over half (55%) of the

world's out of school
children lived in SSA.
ECA had the smallest

percentage of the
worlds OOS children at
1.8% followed by MNA
(3.9%) and LAC (4.4%).
Out-of-School Children of Primary

School Age by Region (2010)
HIC; 3%EAP; 11%

ECA; 2%
LAC; 4%
MNA; 4%
SSA; 54%
SAS; 22%

How many primary school age

children are out of school (OOS)?
In 1999, 107.7 million

children were out of
primary school.
The total decreased
to 72.6 million in
2005 and 60.7
million in 2010.
There were 47 million
fewer children OOS
in 2010 than in 1999.
Since 2008, the
global number of
out-of-school
children has grown
from 60.66 million to
60.69 million (2009)
and 60.73 million in
2010.
The total number of out-of-school children has

decreased by 47 million since 1999.
HIC
ECA
LAC
MNA
EAP
SAS
SSA
How much have regions decreased

the total number of OOS children?
SAS and MNA more

than halved the total
number of OOS
children between 1999
and 2010. In SAS, the
total number of OOS
children decreased by
25.6 million or 66%.
SSA decreased the

total number by 12.3
million, which was a
27% decrease between
1999 and 2010, but the
total number increased
by 1.5 million between
2008 and 2010.
All regions have decreased their total number of

out-of-school children since 1999.
1999
2008
2010
Out-of-School Children. Total (in millions)
Which countries have the most outof-school children?

45.8% of the worlds outof-school children live in
the 10 countries listed
here.
10 Countries with the Most Out-of

School Children
1
Nigeria
10,542,105
Five of the countries are

in SSA and 3 are in SAS.
Pakistan
5,125,373
Nigeria almost has as

many OOS children as
the regional totals for
LAC, ECA, and MNA
combined (10.9 million).
Ethiopia
2,389,945
India
2,278,322
Bangladesh
1,835,269
Philippines
1,460,431
Cote d'Ivoire
1,160,732
United States
1,023,231
Burkina Faso
1,022,362
Niger
1,012,228
The US is #8 in the
ranking because of the
large size of the school
age population and also
possibly because of a
lack of consistent data
collection on homeschooled children.
(2008-2011)
10

Notes: Data displayed is the most current year available; Purple is
2011; Black is 2010; Blue is 2009; Green is 2008; Data was not
Are more females out-ofschool than males?
In 1999, there were

almost 62 million
females out-of-school
compared to 45.5
million males. 58% of
the worlds out-ofschool children were
female.
In 2010, around 32
million girls were out of
school compared to
28.6 million boys.
52.5% of out-of-school
children were female.
The gap between male
and female totals
decreased from 16.5
million to 3.6 million
between 1999 and
2010.
More Females are Out of Primary School than Males
Males Out-of-School
Females Out-of-School
Where are more females out-ofschool?
Over half of the

worlds out of school
girls are in SSA, and
just under 1/4 are in
South Asia.
South Asia has
decreased its total
number of females
out-of-school by 17.7
million since 1999.
The regions total
dropped from 25
million to 7 million.
SSA has also
decreased its total
from 24.3 million in
1999 to 17.5 million in
2010.
3 out of every 4 Out-of-School Girls are

in either Sub-Saharan Africa or South Asia
LAC
ECA
MNA
EAP
SAS
SSA
Which countries have the most

females OOS?
Around half of the worlds

out-of-school females live
in these 10 countries.
36% of the worlds out-ofschool females live in the
Top 4 countries.
Nigeria, Pakistan, and
India all have more ourof-school females that the
sum of all females out-ofschool in LAC and ECA.
Half of the countries are
in SSA and three are in
South Asia.

Female Out-of School Children
(2008-2011)
Nigeria
5,487,901
Pakistan
3,241,203
India
1,407,495
Ethiopia
1,367,141
Cote d'Ivoire
663,809
Philippines
661,551
Bangladesh
591,325
Niger
568,884
Yemen, Rep.
567,702
10
Burkina Faso
530,731
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, October, 2012;

Notes: Data displayed is the most current year available; Orange is
2008;Blue is 2009; Blue is 2010; Black is 2011; Data were not
Are there gender, income, or location

disparities in the % of children OOS?
In all regions, more low

income students are
OOS than high income
students. SAS has the
largest income disparity
at 29 percentage points
difference between the
top and bottom quintiles.
SSA follows closely
behind with 24 points.
A higher % of boys are

OOS in EAP, ECA, and
LAC, but a higher % of
girls are OOS in SAS
and SSA.
In all regions except for

ECA, a higher % of rural
students are OOS. This
disparity is highest in
SSA at 15 percentage
points.2
Low income is the greatest source of disparity in

percentages of OOS children across regions.
Percentage Point Difference in the % of Children Out-of-School (Male-Female, Urban-Rural, and Quintile 1-Quintile 5)
Gender disparity
Location disparity
Source: Estimated by Porta (2011) using data from Demographic and Health
Do rural/urban disparities in educational

access exist in SSA?
Percentage of 7 to16 year olds who has never been to school.
Percentage of the population in the official age range of

lower secondary education not in school
Do income disparities exist in educational

access in SAS and EAP?
South Asia (SAS)
Percentage of 7 to16 year olds who has never been to school.
East Asia and the Pacific (EAP)
Secondary
Education

secondary schools?
Over 543 million

students are enrolled
in secondary school
worldwide.
This total is up from
510 million in 2005 and
451 million in 2000.
Over half of the worlds
secondary school
students are in either
EAP or SAS.
38 percent of total
secondary enrolments
are in China (18%) and
India (20%)
258 million (47.5%) are
girls.
Share of Total Secondary Enrollments by Region (%)

2010
HIC; 16%
EAP; 27%
SAS; 25%
ECA; 6%
LAC; 11%
SSA; 8% MNA; 6%


Secondary Net Enrollment Rates (NER)
In 2000, just over half

(53%) of secondary
school age children
were enrolled. This
figure has risen by 9.4
percentage points to
62.5% in 2010.
ECA has consistently
had the highest net
enrolment rates (NERs)
over time at around
80%.
Unlike in primary,
secondary NERs have
consistently improved
over time globally and
in most regions.
Over one-third of secondary school age children are

not in school, but progress has been made over time.
Net Enrolment Rate. Secondary. Total (%)
Continued
EAP
ECA
LAC
MNA
SAS
SSA
WLD
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, Nov 2012; Notes: SSA 2008 is 2007 data; 2010 Data not availab le for SSA & SAS

Secondary NER (continued)
EAP has made the most

progress between 2000
(55%) and 2010 (72%)
followed by SAS, which
improved by 11
percentage points
between 2000 and 2008.
SSA improved by 6.7
percentage points
between 2000 and 2007,
but still was more than
20 percent behind other
regions with NERs
ranging from 20-26%.
Almost of secondary
school age students are
not enrolled in SSA, and
almost half are not
enrolled in SAS.
Over one-third of secondary school age children are

not in school, but progress has been made over time.
Net Enrolment Rate. Secondary. Total (%)
EAP
ECA
LAC
MNA
SAS
SSA
WLD
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, Nov 2012; Notes: SSA 2008 is 2007 data; 2010 Data not availab le for SSA & SAS

secondary enrollment rates?
More than 2/3 of

secondary school age
students are out-of-school
in these countries. Almost
90% of students are not
enrolled in Niger and
Angola.

Secondary Net Enrollment Rates
(2008-2011)
Niger
10.2
Angola
11.5
14.1
25 countries have less

than half of secondary
school age students
enrolled.
Burundi
16.2
Mozambique
17.3
Burkina Faso
17.5
Djibouti is the only country

on the list that is not in
SSA.
Madagascar
23.6
Djibouti
24.2
#10 Eritreas NER is

almost 3 times higher
than #1 Nigers NER.
Malawi
27.5
10
Eritrea
28.6
#5 Mozambique improved
from 3.4% in 2001 to

Notes: Figures are most recent year with available data between 20082011. Green = 2008; Blue = 2009; Black = 2010; Purple = 2011. Data
were not available for 96 of 214 countries.
Which countries have improved

secondary enrolment rates the most?
These countries
have improved their
secondary net
enrolment rates
(NER) by 16 to 32
percentage points
between 1999-2001
and 2009-2011.
Bhutan has more
than doubled its
2001 NER, but still
has around half of
secondary school
age students OOS
in 2011.
Despite their
improvement, only
three of these
countries have
NERs higher than
75%.

Improvement in Secondary
Net Enrollment Rates
2001
Improved NER
Most
%
current
Improved
NER
1 Bhutan
32.0
21.7 53.8 147.5
2 Syrian Arab Republic
25.2
41.7 67.0
60.5
3 St. Lucia
25.0
60.3 85.3
41.4
4 St. Vincent and the
22.4
67.9 90.4
33.0
5 Dominican Republic
22.1
40.2 62.3
55.0
6 Oman
21.5
68.2 89.7
31.6
7 Indonesia
20.6
46.7 67.3
44.1
8 Venezuela, RB
17.5
54.3 71.8
32.2
9 Kenya
16.0
34.0 50.0
47.0
10 Ghana
15.8
32.9 48.7
48.1
Grenadines

Notes: Black data is for 2001 or 2010; Purple is 2000 or 2011; Blue is 2009;
Net Enrollment Rate. Secondary (%)

Do low secondary enrollments relate

to low national income per capita?
Low gross national

income (GNI) per capita
does not necessarily
lead to low secondary
NERs. Low income
countries (<$1025 GNI
pc) have NERs ranging
from 10.2% (Niger) to
85% (Tajikistan).
All countries with a GNI
pc over $10,000 have a
NER over 70% except
Liechtenstein and
Uruguay.
Almost all countries with
secondary NERs less
than 50% have a GNI pc
less than $3000. The
exceptions are
Swaziland and Angola.
There is no clear association between low national

income per capita and low secondary enrolment rates.
100
R = 0.18
Norway
90
Net Enrollment Rate. Secondary. All Programmes. Total
80
Macao, SAR China
70
Switzerland,
Qatar,
Luxembourg
60
Suriname
50
40
30
20
CAR, Burundi, Mozambique, Burkina Faso

Angola
10
Niger
0
0
10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000 80000 90000

GNI per capita, Atlas method (current US$)
Note: Data is for the most recent year b etween 2009 and 2011.

parity in secondary enrollments?
Globally, the gender

parity index (GPI) for
secondary net enrollment
rate (NER) has been
increasing from 0.92 in
2000 to 0.96 in 2010.
Gender disparities in secondary enrollments vary

greatly across regions.
Female Bias
Male Bias
ECA is the only region

within +/- 0.05 of gender
parity (1.0).
LAC has consistently had
higher female NERs.
EAP has reversed from a
male bias (0.96) in 2000
to a female bias (1.06) in
2010.
SAS has greatly

decreased gender
disparity over time.
SSA has maintained a

male bias 0.80 since
Gender Parity Index (GPI) for Net Enrolment Rate. Secondary
WLD
EAP
ECA
LAC
MNA
SAS
SSA
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, Oct. 2012; No data available for SSA and MNA for 2010. SSA 2008 data is from 2007.
Does gender parity exist in secondary

enrollments in most countries?
Just over half (52%) of

countries with data are
within 0.05 of gender
parity in secondary
enrollments.
Unlike primary
enrollments, more
countries have a female
bias in secondary
enrolments. 85
countries have GPIs
higher than 1 while 71
countries have GPIs
less than 1.
6 countries have
perfect gender parity
(1.0): Slovenia,
Mauritius, Swaziland,
Japan, Indonesia, and
Cyprus.
More countries have higher female secondary GERs

than male secondary GERs.
1.40
Gender
1.30Parity Index (GPI) for Gross Enrolment Ratio. Secondary
1.20
1.10
Female Bias
1.00
Male Bias
0.90
0.80
0.70
0.60
0.50
0.40
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, Octob er 2012:

Data points are the most recent year with data availab le (2008-2011)

disparities in secondary enrolments?
In 9 of 10
countries, the
male GER is
much higher than
the female GER.
In Lesotho the
female GER is
higher than the
male rate.
8 of 10 countries
are in SSA. 1 is in
South Asia and 1
is in MNA.
Of the 20
countries with the
greatest gender
disparity, 5 have a
female bias.
14 of the top 20
10 Countries with the Largest Gender

Disparities in Secondary Enrolments
(2008-2011)
GPI
Absolute
value from 1
Chad
0.42
0.58
Afghanistan
0.51
0.49
0.55
0.45
Congo, Dem. Rep.
0.58
0.42
Guinea
0.59
0.41
Lesotho
1.38
0.38
Yemen, Rep.
0.62
0.38
Niger
0.66
0.34
Angola
0.69
0.31
Mali
0.71
0.29
10
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, October 2012; Notes: Data are
2010 GPIs for Secondary Gross Enrolment Rates except Guinea (2009), CAR
(2011), and Mali (2011); Data were not available for 52 of 213 countries.
Which countries have decreased gender

disparity in secondary the most?

moved from 0.19 to
0.34 percentage
points closer to
gender parity (1) over
time.
Sweden and St. Lucia
improved from a large
female bias (1.26)
toward gender parity.
The other countries
have improved from a
male bias (0.40 to
0.85) toward gender
parity.
3 of 10 countries are
within 0.05 of gender
parity in the most
recent year.

Improvement Toward Gender
Parity in Secondary Enrollments
Percentage 2000/
Points
2001
Improved
GPI
Most
current
GPI
1 Cambodia
0.34
0.57
0.90
2 Sweden
0.27
1.26
0.99
3 St. Lucia
0.27
1.26
0.99
4 Mozambique
0.23
0.64
0.87
5 Senegal
0.21
0.66
0.88
6 Yemen, Rep.
0.21
0.41
0.62
7 India
0.20
0.72
0.92
8 Bhutan
0.19
0.85
1.04
9 Guinea
0.19
0.40
0.59
10 Turkey
0.19
0.73
0.91
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, October. 2012;

Notes: Most current GPI data for most countries is from 2010;
Guinea and Turkey are 2009; Mozambique data is 2011.
Do income disparities exist in lower

secondary enrolment rates in SAS and MNA?
South Asia (SAS)
% of the population in the official age range of lower secondary education not in school
Middle East and North Africa (MNA)
Source: Demographic and Health Surveys and Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys In World Inequality Database on Education (WIDE), Nov.
Do rural/urban disparities exist in lower

secondary enrolment rates in LAC?
Percentage of the population in the official age range of

lower secondary education not in school
Do regional disparities exist in lower

secondary enrolment rates in Asia?
Tertiary
Education
How many youth are enrolled?

Tertiary Gross Enrolment Rates (GER)
Around 30% of tertiary

age youth were enrolled
in tertiary education
2010. This figure was a
10 percentage point
improvement over 2000
(19%).
ECA has consistently

had the highest tertiary
GERs of any region.
Over half (55.6%) of
tertiary age youth were
enrolled in 2010 which is
a 17 percentage point
increase over 2000.
EAP has more than

doubled its tertiary GER
over time.
SSA lags behind other
Almost of tertiary age youth around the world

are not enrolled in tertiary education.
Gross Enrolment Rate. Tertiary. Total (%)
EAP
ECA
LAC
MNA
SAS
SSA
WLD

tertiary enrollment rates?

less than 4% of tertiary
age students enrolled in
tertiary education.

Tertiary Gross Enrollment Rates
(2008-2011)
Turks and Caicos Islands
0.08
33 countries have less

than 10 percent of
tertiary age youth
enrolled.
Malawi
0.72
Niger
1.51
Eritrea
1.99
50 countries have more

than half of tertiary age
youth enrolled.
Tanzania
2.11
Chad
2.17
8 countries have tertiary

GERs higher than 80%
and 4 countries have
tertiary GERs higher than
90%: Finland, the United
States, Cuba, and Korea,
Rep.
2.57
Burundi
3.25
Afghanistan
3.33
Dominica
3.57
10

Notes: Figures are most recent year with data between 2008-2011.
Purple = 2011; Black = 2010; Blue = 2009; Green = 2008.
Which countries have improved

tertiary enrolment rates the most?
These countries
have improved
their tertiary gross
enrolment rates by
27 to 70
percentage points
between 19992001 and 20092011.
7 countries more
than doubled their
tertiary GER
Cuba, Venezuela,
Cyprus,
Montenegro, Czech
Rep., Romania,
and Armenia.
All of the countries
are in LAC or ECA.

Improvement in Tertiary
Gross Enrollment Rates
2001
Improved GER
20092011
GER
%
Improved
1 Cuba
70.0
25.2
95.2
277.8
2 Venezuela, RB
49.8
28.3
78.1
175.6
3 Cyprus
33.0
21.6
54.6
152.8
4 Montenegro
31.1
16.6
47.6
187.9
5 Czech Republic
30.5
30.1
60.7
101.5
6 Romania
30.5
28.4
58.8
107.4
7 Uruguay
29.5
33.8
63.3
87.4
8 Ukraine
27.1
52.4
79.5
51.8
9 Belarus
27.0
55.9
83.0
48.3
10 Armenia
26.6
24.9
51.5
106.7

Notes: Most recent data year available was used from 2008-2011.
Gross Enrollment Ratio. Tertiary

Do countries with higher income per capita

have higher tertiary enrollment rates?
Most countries with

gross national income
(GNI) per capita less
than $1000 have
tertiary GERs less than
11%. Tajikistan (20%)
and Kyrgyz Rep (49%)
are the two exceptions.
Countries with GNI pc
more than $20,000
have tertiary GERs
higher than 50%
except for Qatar
(10%), Luxembourg
(10.5%), Brunei
(17.2%), and
Liechtenstein (36.0%).
Most countries with a GNI pc higher than $20,000

have tertiary GERs higher than 50%.
100
United States
Finland
90
Belarus
Slovenia
Gross enrolment ratio. Tertiary (ISCED 5 and 6). Total

80
R = 0.2
Norway
70
60
Switzerland
50
40
30
Oman
20
Brunei
Luxembourg,
Qatar
10
0
0
10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000 80000 90000

UNESCO
Institute (current
for Statistics
in EdStats, Nov. 2012
GNI perSource:
capita,
Atlas method
US$)
Note: Data is for the most recent year b etween 2009 and 2011.

parity in tertiary enrollments?
In 2000, the world gender

parity index (GPI) for
tertiary enrollments was
1.0 perfect gender
parity. Since then, female
GERs have been higher
than male GERs, and the
GPI has been moving
above 1.0.
MNA is the only region

within +/- 0.05 of gender
parity in 2010. LAC and
ECA have consistently
had higher female GERs,
and EAP has reversed
from a male bias to a
female bias.
SAS and SSA have

maintained a strong male
bias in tertiary
enrolments over time.
Gender disparities in tertiary enrolment rates vary

greatly across regions.
Gender Parity Index (GPI) for Gross Enrolment Rate. Tertiary
Female Bias
Male Bias
WLD
EAP
ECA
LAC
MNA
SAS
SSA
Source: UNESCO I nstitute for Statistics in EdStats, Oct. 2012
Does gender parity exist in tertiary

enrollments in most countries?
The majority of countries have higher female enrolment

Only 9 countries are
rates than male enrolment rates in tertiary education.
within +/-0.05 of
5.50
gender parity in
tertiary enrollments.
5.00
Gender Parity Index (GPI) for Gross Enrolment Ratio. Tertiary
63% of countries
4.50
have a female bias in
tertiary enrolments
4.00
vs. 37% with higher
male enrolment rates. 3.50
One country
3.00
Vietnam has perfect
gender parity (1.0).
2.50
In 10 countries, the
Female Bias
2.00
female GER more
than doubles the
1.50
male GER. These
1.00
countries are island
nations in LAC and
Male Bias
0.50
Qatar (see next
slide).
0.00
Note: Data points are the most recent year with data availab le (2008-2011)

disparities in tertiary enrolments?
10 Countries with the Largest
Female Bias in Tertiary Enrolments
10 Countries with the Largest Male

Bias in Tertiary Enrolments
(2008-2011)
(2008-2011)
Qatar
5.38
Chad
0.17
Dominica
3.35
Congo, Rep.
0.21
Antigua and Barbuda
2.58
Afghanistan
0.24
St. Lucia
2.57
Congo, Dem. Rep.
0.31
Guyana
2.52
0.32
Barbados
2.38
Eritrea
0.33
Jamaica
2.28
Guinea
0.33
Cayman Islands
2.24
Ethiopia
0.36
Bermuda
2.12
Benin
0.38
St. Kitts and Nevis
2.10
10
Niger
0.38
10
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, Oct. 2012;

Notes: Black = 2010; Blue = 2008; Data were not available for
73 of 213 countries.
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, Oct. 2012;

Notes: Maroon=2011; Black = 2010; Purple = 2009; Blue = 2008;
Do gender, income, or location disparities

exist in post-secondary attendance ratios?
Levels of gender
disparity in postsecondary attendance
are much lower than
levels of location and
income disparity. More
girls than boys attend
post-secondary schools
in EAP, ECA, and LAC.
Rural areas have

between 5 (SSA) and 15
(LAC) percent lower
attendance ratios than
urban areas.
Income is the largest

source of disparity
across regions. Income
disparities range from 8
percentage points in
SSA to 34 in LAC.2
Income is the largest source of disparity in postsecondary gross attendance ratios in all regions.
Gender disparity
Location disparity
Percentage Point Difference in Gross Attendance Ratio. Post-Sec.

(Male-Female, Urban-Rural, and Quintile 1-Quintile 5)
Source: Estimated by Porta (2011) using data from Dem ographic and Health
Data Sources
This presentation utilizes the following data sources:
1) UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) data in the EdStats Query
The presentation was created with the most recent UIS data
release that included 2010 data for most indicators and 2011 data
for some countries.
The most recent regional aggregate data was from 2010.
Indicators were calculated by UIS according to definitions available

in the EdStats Query metadata.
2) Income/Gender/Location Disparity slides were based on data

and analysis extracted from:
Demographic and Health Surveys, Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys, and

Living Standards Measurement Studies for 1985-2007; Reports were
generated through ADePT Edu by Emilio Porta (2011).
Porta, Emilio, Gustavo Arcia, Kevin Macdonald, Sergiy Radyakin, and Misha
Lokshin. 2011. Assessing Sector Performance and Inequality in Education.
Washington, DC: World Bank.
The State of Education Series

The following State of Education presentations
are available on the EdStats website:
Topics:
Access
Quality
Expenditures
Literacy
Equity
Gender
Educational Levels:
Pre-Primary Education
Primary Education
Secondary Education
Tertiary Education

01 AccessEd

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

01 AccessEd

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

The State of Education Series

Access to Education: Indicators

Total enrollments by region

Out of School Children (OOS) of primary

Net Enrollment Rates (NER)/Gross

Correlations between GDP per capita and

Education equality: Income/gender/location

East Asia and Pacific

Europe and Central Asia

Latin American and the Caribbean

Middle East and North Africa

Less than half of the worlds pre-primary age

60.7 million primary school age children were out of

Since 2008, the global rate of children out of school

62.5% of secondary school age students were

How many children are enrolled in

Around 164 million

Share of Total Pre-Primary Enrollments by Region (%)

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, November 2012;

How many children are enrolled?

Globally, less than half of

SAS almost doubled its

LACs GERs are

SSA and MNA lag behind

Pre-Primary Gross Enrolment Rates have

Which countries have the lowest

10 Countries with the Lowest PrePrimary Net Enrollment Rates

Of the 130 countries

Central African Republic

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, Nov 2012

Which countries have increased preprimary enrollment rates the most?

10 Countries with the Most

5 Sao Tome & Principe

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, November 2012;

Net Enrollment Rate. Pre-Primary (%)

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, 2012

Are lower pre-primary enrollment rates

All the low income

All low income countries had less than one-third of

10000 20000 30000 40000 50000 60000 70000 80000 90000

GNI per capita,

Do gender disparities exist in preprimary enrollment rates?

Gender parity indices

Globally, the GPI has

Gender parity in pre-primary enrolments (1.0) has

Gender Parity Index (GPI) for Gross Enrolment Ratio. Pre-Primary

Most regions are very

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, Novemb er 2012

Do rural/urban disparities exist in preprimary attendance rates in ECA?

Do income disparities exist in preprimary attendance rates in SSA?

How many children are enrolled in

Around 691 million

Share of Total Primary Enrollments

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, Novemb er 2012

Have primary enrolments improved?

Primary Adjusted Net Enrollment Rates (ANER)

This figure rose each

All regions have

Primary Enrolment Rates have increased since

Adjusted Net Enrolment Rate. Primary. Total (%)

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics in EdStats, November 2012

Have primary enrolments improved?

Primary Adjusted Net Enrollment Rates (ANER)

Since 2008, SSA has