Primary and secondary school enrollment

Not all children who attend primary school continue their education at the secondary level. At the global level, the secondary school net enrollment ratio (NER) is 59.3%, compared to a primary school NER of 83.8%, but primary and secondary school participation vary widely between individual countries. With data from the Global Education Digest 2005 by UNESCO the correlation between primary and secondary school enrollment can be analyzed.

In the graph below, the primary school NER is plotted along the horizontal axis and the secondary school NER along the vertical axis. 151 countries are shown, with symbols that indicate the UNICEF region to which they belong. For the remaining countries the Global Education Digest contains no data on primary or secondary school enrollment.

Primary and secondary school net enrollment ratio, 2002/03

Data source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). 2005. Global Education Digest 2005. Montreal: UIS.

The secondary school NER does not increase proportionally with primary school enrollment. In 19 of the countries in the graph, the primary school NER is less than 70%; in 17 of these countries the secondary school NER does not rise above 30%. All countries in this group are from Africa or the Middle East. If the primary school NER in a country is above 70%, children are much more likely to continue their education at the secondary level. However, even in this group many countries, mostly from Africa, are struggling to raise secondary school enrollment.

In the following table, all countries are grouped according to the primary school NER. For each group, the average secondary school NER and the number of countries in the group are listed. Secondary school enrollment does increase with primary school enrollment but for countries with a primary school NER above 70% this increase in secondary school enrollment is relatively steeper. In the 86 countries with a primary school NER above 90%, on average three out of four children of secondary school age (73.8%) go to secondary school.

Average secondary school net enrollment ratio by level of primary school net enrollment, 2002/03

Primary school NER	Average secondary school NER (%)	Number of countries
30 to 39.9%	8.0	3
40 to 49.9%	18.8	2
50 to 59.9%	24.4	6
60 to 69.9%	25.8	8
70 to 79.9%	36.4	12
80 to 89.9%	53.3	34
90 to 100%	73.8	86
Total	59.7	151

Data source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). 2005. Global Education Digest 2005. Montreal: UIS.
Note: Average values are weighted by each country's population of secondary school age.

Friedrich Huebler, 10 July 2005, Creative Commons License

Update to "Integrating Stata and external text editors"

I have rewritten my guide to Integrating Stata and external text editors. The guide describes how a text editor can be fully integrated with the Stata statistical package, similar to the simple editor that is part of Stata. For this purpose I developed two AutoIt scripts that are now available in a new version 2.0.

New features:

• Support for Stata 9 added, the latest release of Stata. The scripts are now compatible with Stata 7, 8, and 9.
• The scripts work with more than one instance of Stata.
• Scripts do no longer rely on the built-in Stata editor.

The new scripts were made possible with help from Nicholas Winter, who updated my old scripts to be compatible with Stata 9 and suggested several ways to make them more efficient. Additional acknowledgements can be found at the end of the guide.

Update, 9 June:

• Version 2.1 of scripts released.
• Fixed problem with the clipboard that was reported by some users.

Update, 30 June:

• Version 2.1.1 of rundolines script released, with minor bug fix.
  

Related articles:
- Integrating Stata and external text editors
- Creating maps with Stata
- Creating PNG images with Stata
- Reading Statalist with Gmail

Friedrich Huebler, 6 June 2005 (edited 10 February 2006), Creative Commons License

Secondary school enrollment 2002/03

The Millennium Development Goals do not require that all children attend secondary school, instead they only ask for gender parity at the secondary level by the year 2015. Nevertheless, participation in secondary education is an important indicator because at this level children acquire more specialized knowledge than in primary school, which enables them to be more competitive in the labor market than their less educated peers.

The Global Education Digest 2005 contains the latest data on secondary school enrollment, for the 2002/03 school year. The secondary school net enrollment ratio (NER) - the share of children of secondary school age that are currently enrolled in secondary school - is known for fewer countries than the primary school NER. No data on secondary school enrollment is available for China, Russia, virtually all of South Asia, and many countries in the Middle East and Africa (see the map below). Overall, the Global Education Digest lists the secondary school NER for 165 countries while the primary school NER is provided for 181 countries.

Secondary school net enrollment ratio, 2002/2003

Data source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). 2005. Global Education Digest 2005. Montreal: UIS.

In spite of the lack of data, it is possible to compare individual regions. For this purpose I adopt the regions used by UNICEF, shown in the following map.

UNICEF regions

Source: UNICEF website, March 2005.

At the global level, 59% of all children of secondary school age, boys as well as girls, were enrolled in secondary school. The secondary school NER is highest among industrialized countries (91%) and in the Eastern Europe/CIS region (82%). Three regions are around the global average: Latin America and the Caribbean (67%), Middle East and North Africa (58%), and East Asia and the Pacific (54%).

Secondary school enrollment is lowest in Eastern and Southern Africa (23%), West and Central Africa (25%), and South Asia (45%; note that this average is based on two countries only: Bangladesh and the Maldives).

Secondary school net enrollment ratio, 2002/03

Region	Secondary school NER (%)
	Male	Female	Total
East Asia, Pacific	51.1	52.0	54.4
Eastern and Southern Africa	24.5	21.8	23.2
Eastern Europe, CIS	82.2	81.8	82.0
Industrialized countries	90.5	91.9	91.2
Latin America, Caribbean	64.7	69.0	66.8
Middle East, North Africa	60.9	55.6	58.3
South Asia	42.2*	46.9*	44.5*
West and Central Africa	28.2	20.9	24.7
World	59.1	59.0	59.3

Data source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). 2005. Global Education Digest 2005. Montreal: UIS.
Notes: (1) Regional values are weighted by each country's population of secondary school age. - (2) The male and female NER is available for fewer countries than total NER. This explains why the total NER is greater than the male and female NER in East Asia and at the global level. - * Sample size too small to be representative for region.

At the primary level, girls' NER is usually below that of boys but this is not true at the secondary level. In two regions - Latin America and South Asia - girls are more likely to be enrolled in secondary school than boys. In three regions - Eastern and Southern Africa, West and Central Africa, and the Middle East and North Africa - boys are more likely to be in secondary school. The remaining three regions - East Asia and the Pacific, Eastern Europe/CIS, and the industrialized countries - are close to the Millennium Development Goal of gender parity in secondary education.

Friedrich Huebler, 1 June 2005 (edited 16 July 2005), Creative Commons License

Primary school enrollment 2002/03

All UN member states have agreed to reach a set of Millennium Development Goals by the year 2015. The MDGs address poverty in its many dimensions and one goal is to "ensure that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling."

At the end of April, the UNESCO Institute for Statistics released the Global Education Digest 2005 with the latest global education indicators, in most cases for the 2002/03 school year. The map below indicates the primary school net enrollment ratio (NER) in each country, that is the share of children of primary school age that are currently enrolled in primary school. For several countries, among them Argentina, China and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, no reliable statistics were available.

Primary school net enrollment ratio, 2002/2003

Data source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). 2005. Global Education Digest 2005. Montreal: UIS.

Worldwide, 84% of all children of primary school age were enrolled in primary school. The highest NER values - above 90% - were reported for the industrialized countries, Latin America and the Caribbean, and East Asia and the Pacific. School enrollment is lowest in West and Central Africa (61%) and in Eastern and Southern Africa (69%). Many countries in these regions are far from the goal of universal primary education.

Primary school net enrollment ratio, 2002/03

Region	Primary school NER (%)
	Male	Female	Total
East Asia, Pacific	92.2	90.5	91.2
Eastern and Southern Africa	70.7	67.8	69.3
Eastern Europe, CIS	89.2	86.6	87.9
Industrialized countries	95.5	96.0	95.7
Latin America, Caribbean	95.1	93.6	95.0
Middle East, North Africa	83.9	77.7	80.9
South Asia	85.8	79.9	83.0
West and Central Africa	67.9	54.6	61.4
World	85.8	81.5	83.8

Data source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). 2005. Global Education Digest 2005. Montreal: UIS.
Note: Regional values are weighted by each country's population of primary school age.

In addition to having the lowest share of children in school, West and Central Africa is also the region with the highest gender disparity. Among boys, 68% were enrolled in primary school, compared to only 55% of girls.

Friedrich Huebler, 22 May 2005, Creative Commons License

Global Education Digest 2005

UNESCO has released the Global Education Digest 2005, with data for the 2002/03 school year. In the coming weeks I will present the latest data on primary and secondary school enrollment, on the gender disparity in primary and secondary school, and on other aspects of education, including repetition rates and school life expectancy.

I will also begin to present data from household surveys. Two important sources of data on education are the Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) of UNICEF and the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) that were initiated by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

Friedrich Huebler, 18 May 2005, Creative Commons License

Repetition rates in primary and secondary school

A comparison of primary school gross and net enrollment rates indicates that there is a high share of late entrants and grade repeaters in Sub-Saharan Africa. Repetition rates in primary and secondary school are listed in the Global Education Digest 2004 from UNESCO. Primary repetition rates are available for 138 countries, secondary repetition rates for 125 countries. The most recent values for each country are plotted in the graph below, with regions, as defined by UNICEF, indicated by different symbols.

Repetition rates in primary and secondary school, 2001/02

Data source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). 2004. Global Education Digest 2004. Montreal: UIS.

The 15 countries with the highest share of repeaters at the primary level are located in West and Central Africa or Eastern and Southern Africa. The highest primary school repetition rates are observed in Equatorial Guinea (40.5%), Rwanda (36.1%) and Gabon (34.4%). Of the 17 countries with the highest share of repeaters at the secondary level, 15 are in Sub-Saharan Africa and 2 in the Middle East and North Africa. The highest secondary school repetition rates exist in Congo (30.8%), Iraq (27.5%), and Algeria (27.2%).

Average repetition rates per region, primary and secondary school, 2001/02

Region	Repetition rate (%)
	Primary school	Secondary school
East Asia, Pacific	1.9	2.2
Eastern and Southern Africa	12.4	12.3
Eastern Europe, CIS	1.2	1.2
Industrialized countries	2.1	3.9
Latin America, Caribbean	10.0	7.4
Middle East, North Africa	8.0	12.9
South Asia	4.5	5.0
West and Central Africa	12.9	18.8
World	6.0	7.8

Data source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). 2004. Global Education Digest 2004. Montreal: UIS.
Note: Regional values are weighted by each country's population of primary school age.

Regional averages, weighted by each country's population of primary school age, are listed in the table above. Worldwide, 6.0% of primary students and 7.8% of secondary students repeat a grade. In primary school, repetition rates are highest in West and Central Africa (average repetition rate 12.9%), Eastern and Souther Africa (12.4%), and Latin America and the Caribbean (10.0%). In secondary school, the highest repetition rates are observed in West and Central Africa (18.8%), the Middle East and North Africa (12.0%), and in Eastern and Southern Africa (12.3%).

In East Asia and the Pacific, Eastern Europe and Central Asia, the industrialized countries, and South Asia, not more than 5% of pupils at the primary or secondary level repeat a grade.

Friedrich Huebler, 9 May 2005, Creative Commons License

School life expectancy

The school life expectancy is the number of years a person of school entrance age can expect to spend in school. This indicator combines information on enrollment rates in primary and secondary education and can therefore be used to compare countries with different lengths of primary or secondary school. In addition, this indicator compensates for late entry into the education system. One limitation is that years spent repeating a grade also count as years spent in school. In countries where repetition rates are high the school life expectancy can therefore be inflated.

School life expectancy in years, primary to secondary education, 2001/02

Data source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). 2004. Global Education Digest 2004. Montreal: UIS.

Average school life expectancy in years per region, primary to secondary education, 2001/02

Region	School life expectancy (years)
East Asia, Pacific	9.7
Eastern and Southern Africa	7.5
Eastern Europe, CIS	9.9
Industrialized countries	12.6
Latin America, Caribbean	11.7
Middle East, North Africa	9.2
South Asia	7.9
West and Central Africa	6.0
World	9.3

Data source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). 2004. Global Education Digest 2004. Montreal: UIS.
Note: Regional values are weighted by each country's population under 18 years of age.

The Global Education Digest 2004 from UNESCO contains data on school life expectancy for nearly all countries. The global average is 9.3 expected years of schooling for every child. At the regional level, the school life expectancy is highest in the industrialized countries (12.6 years) and in Latin America (11.7 years). The lowest school life expectancy is observed in West and Central Africa (6 years) and in Eastern and Southern Africa (7.5 years). Sub-Saharan Africa also has the lowest primary and secondary school enrollment rates.

Friedrich Huebler, 1 May 2005, Creative Commons License