Focus International / WIDNET (Women In Development NETwork)

Primary education
Last update: Dec 2007
Country or area	Net enrolment ratio in primary education				Girls' share of primary enrolment
	Year		Girls	Boys	Year		%
Afghanistan	...		...	...	2005		36
Albania	2004		94	94	2004		48
Algeria	2005		95	98	2005		47
Andorra	2005	a	79	81	2005		47
Angola	...		...	...	1999	b	46
Anguilla	2005	b	91	86	2005		51
Antigua and Barbuda	...		...	...	2000		62
Argentina	2004		98	99	2004		49
Armenia	2005		81	77	2005		48
Aruba	2005	a	100	99	2005		48
Australia	2005		97	96	2005		49
Austria	2005	b	98	96	2005		49
Azerbaijan	2005		84	85	2005		48
Bahamas	2005		92	90	2005		49
Bahrain	2005		97	97	2005		49
Bangladesh	2004	a	96	93	2004		50
Barbados	2005		98	98	2005		49
Belarus	2005	b	88	91	2005		48
Belgium	2005		99	99	2005		49
Belize	2005		96	93	2005		48
Benin	2005		70	86	2005		44
Bermuda	...		...	...	2005		50
Bhutan	...		...	...	2005		49
Bolivia	2004	b	96	94	2004	b	49
Botswana	2005	b	84	85	2005		49
Brazil	2004		95	95	2004		47
British Virgin Islands	2005	b	95	96	2005		48
Brunei Darussalam	2005		94	93	2005		48
Bulgaria	2005		93	93	2005		48
Burkina Faso	2005		40	50	2005		44
Burundi	2005		58	63	2005		46
Cambodia	2005		98	100	2005		47
Cameroon	...		...	...	2005	d	46
Canada	2000	b	100	99	2004	b	49
Cape Verde	2005		89	91	2005		49
Cayman Islands	2005	b	77	86	2005		48
Central African Republic	...		...	...	2005	a	40
Chad	2003	b	50	72	2005		40
Chile	2005	b	89	90	2005		48
China	...		...	...	2005	b	47
Colombia	2005		87	87	2005		48
Comoros	2000	a	50	60	2005	b	46
Congo	2005		48	39	2005		48
Cook Islands	2000	a	77	78	2004	b	47
Costa Rica	...		...	...	2005		48
Croatia	2003		87	88	2003		49
Cuba	2005		96	98	2005		48
Cyprus	2005	a	99	99	2005		49
Czech Republic	2005	b	93	91	2005		48
Côte d'Ivoire	2003	a	50	62	2003	a	44
Democratic Republic of the Congo	...		...	...	2003	b	44
Denmark	2005		96	95	2005		49
Djibouti	2005		30	37	2005		45
Dominica	2005	b	85	83	2005		49
Dominican Republic	2005		88	87	2005		48
Ecuador	2004	b	98	97	2005	b	49
Egypt	2005	b	91	96	2005		47
El Salvador	2005		93	93	2005		48
Equatorial Guinea	2003		77	85	2005		49
Eritrea	2005		43	51	2005		44
Estonia	2005		95	95	2005		48
Ethiopia	2005		59	64	2005		46
Fiji	2005	b	96	97	2005	b	48
Finland	2005		98	98	2005		49
France	2004		99	99	2005		48
Gabon	2001	b	77	77	2004	b	49
Gambia	2003	b	77	77	2004		51
Georgia	2004		92	93	2005		48
Germany	...		...	...	2005		49
Ghana	2005		65	65	2005		48
Gibraltar	...		...	...	2001		48
Greece	2005		99	99	2005		48
Grenada	2005	b	83	84	2005	b	49
Guatemala	2005		92	96	2005		48
Guinea	2005		61	70	2005		44
Guinea-Bissau	2001	b	37	53	2001	b	40
Guyana	...		...	...	2005		49
Honduras	2005	b	92	90	2005	b	49
Hong Kong (China), SAR	2005	a	90	95	2005		48
Hungary	2005		88	90	2005		48
Iceland	2005	b	97	100	2005	b	48
India	2005	c	85	92	2005	b	47
Indonesia	2005	b	94	97	2005	b	48
Iran, Islamic Republic of	2005		100	91	2005		54
Iraq	2005	b	81	94	2005	b	44
Ireland	2005		96	96	2005		49
Israel	2005		98	97	2005		49
Italy	2005		98	99	2005		48
Jamaica	2005	b	90	90	2005		49
Japan	2005		100	100	2005		49
Jordan	2005		90	88	2005		49
Kazakhstan	2005		90	92	2005		49
Kenya	2005		79	78	2005		49
Kiribati	1999	b	98	96	2005		49
Kuwait	2005		86	87	2005		48
Kyrgyzstan	2005		86	87	2005		49
Lao People's Democratic Republic	2005		81	86	2005		46
Latvia	2005	b	89	86	2005		48
Lebanon	2005		92	93	2005		48
Lesotho	2005		89	84	2005		50
Liberia	2000		58	74	2000		42
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya	...		...	...	2005		48
Liechtenstein	2004	a	89	87	2004		50
Lithuania	2005		89	89	2005		49
Luxembourg	2005		95	95	2005		49
Macao, China	2005		89	92	2005		47
Madagascar	2005		92	93	2005		49
Malawi	2005		97	92	2005		50
Malaysia	2004		95	96	2004		49
Maldives	2005		79	79	2005		48
Mali	2005		45	56	2005		43
Malta	2005		84	88	2005		47
Marshall Islands	2003	b	89	90	2005	b	47
Mauritania	2005		72	72	2005		50
Mauritius	2005		96	94	2005		49
Mexico	2005		98	98	2005		49
Micronesia (Federated States of)	...		...	...	2005		48
Monaco	...		...	...	2001		49
Mongolia	2005		85	83	2005		49
Montserrat	2004	a	92	96	2005		46
Morocco	2005		83	89	2005		46
Mozambique	2005		74	81	2005		46
Myanmar	2005		91	89	2005		50
Namibia	2005		74	69	2005		50
Nauru	...		...	...	2004	b	47
Nepal	2004	a	74	84	2005		46
Netherlands	2005		98	99	2005		48
Netherlands Antilles	...		...	...	2003	b	49
New Zealand	2005		99	99	2005		49
Nicaragua	2005		86	88	2005		48
Niger	2005		33	46	2005		41
Nigeria	2005	b	64	72	2005		45
Niue	1999	a	98	99	2005		51
Norway	2005		98	98	2005		49
Oman	2005		76	75	2005		49
Pakistan	2005		59	77	2005		42
Palau	2000	b	94	98	2005	b	48
Palestinian Autonomous Territories	2005		80	80	2005		49
Panama	2005		98	99	2005		48
Papua New Guinea	...		...	...	2003	b	45
Paraguay	2004		88	87	2004		48
Peru	2005		97	96	2005		49
Philippines	2005		95	93	2005		49
Poland	2005		97	96	2005		49
Portugal	2005		98	98	2005		48
Qatar	2005		96	96	2005		49
Republic of Korea	2005		99	100	2005		47
Republic of Moldova	2005	b	86	86	2005		48
Romania	2005		92	93	2005		48
Russian Federation	2005	b	93	92	2005		49
Rwanda	2005	b	75	72	2005	b	51
Saint Kitts and Nevis	2005	a	96	91	2005		50
Saint Lucia	2005		96	98	2005		49
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	2005		88	92	2005		47
Samoa	2004	b	91	90	2005	b	48
San Marino	...		...	...	2000		48
Sao Tome and Principe	2005		96	97	2005		49
Saudi Arabia	2005		79	77	2005		49
Senegal	2005		67	70	2005		49
Serbia and Montenegro	2001	b	96	96	2001		49
Seychelles	2004	a	100	99	2005		48
Sierra Leone	...		...	...	2001		42
Singapore	...		...	...	2005		48
Slovakia	2005	b	92	91	2005		48
Slovenia	2005		98	99	2005		48
Solomon Islands	2003	b	62	65	2005		47
South Africa	2004		87	87	2004		49
Spain	2005		99	100	2005		48
Sri Lanka	2003	b	98	99	2003	b	49
Sudan	2000	b	39	47	2005		46
Suriname	2005		96	93	2005		48
Swaziland	2005	b	80	79	2005	b	48
Sweden	2005		96	96	2005		49
Switzerland	2005		93	93	2005		49
Syrian Arab Republic	2002		92	97	2005		48
Tajikistan	2005		96	99	2005		48
Thailand	...		...	...	2005		48
The former Yugoslav Rep of Macedonia	2005		92	92	2005		48
Timor-Leste	...		...	...	2005		47
Togo	2005		72	84	2005		46
Tokelau	...		...	...	2004	b	57
Tonga	2005	b	93	97	2005	b	47
Trinidad and Tobago	2005	b	90	90	2005	a	49
Tunisia	2005		97	97	2005		48
Turkey	2005		87	92	2005	b	48
Turks and Caicos Islands	2005	a	81	75	2005		51
Tuvalu	...		...	...	2004		50
Uganda	...		...	...	2005		50
Ukraine	2005	b	83	83	2005		49
United Arab Emirates	2005		70	71	2005		48
United Kingdom	2005		99	99	2005		49
United Republic of Tanzania	2005		91	92	2005		49
United States	2005		93	91	2005		49
Uruguay	2004	b	93	92	2004		48
Uzbekistan	...		...	...	2004	b	49
Vanuatu	2005	b	93	95	2005	b	48
Venezuela	2005		92	91	2005		48
Viet Nam	2001	b	91	97	2005		47
Yemen	2004	b	63	87	2005		42
Zambia	2005		89	89	2005		48
Zimbabwe	2003		82	81	2003		49

Top

Sources:

Net enrolment ratio in primary education
UNESCO Institute for Statistics, table 5: Enrolment ratios by ISCED level, available from UIS website, http://www.uis.unesco.org (accessed Oct 2007).

Girls’ share of primary enrolment
Calculated by the United Nations Statistics Division based on data published by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics in table 5: Enrolment ratios by ISCED level, available from UIS website, http://www.uis.unesco.org (Oct 2007).

Footnotes:

…	Not available.
a	National estimation.
b	UIS estimation.
c	Projected at the National level on the basis of age-wise data collected for ISCE.
d	Policy change: Introduction of free universal primary education.

Top

Technical notes:

Statistics on enrolment are compiled by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics (UIS) from data provided by national Governments.

The 1997 International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED 97) defines primary education as programmes that are normally designed on a unit or project basis to give students a sound basic education in reading, writing and mathematics along with an elementary understanding of other subjects such as history, geography, natural science, social science, art and music. The customary or legal age of entrance to this level of education ranges between ages 5 to 7 years, and is the start of compulsory education where it exists. This level covers in principle six years of full-time schooling.

The primary-level net enrolment ratio (NER) is the number of boys and girls of primary-school age that are enrolled in primary education, expressed as a percentage of the total population in that age group. It shows the extent of participation in primary education of children belonging to the official age group corresponding to primary education in the given country. A high primary NER denotes a high degree of participation of primary school-age children in primary education. The theoretical maximum value is 100%. If the primary NER is below 100%, then the complement, i.e. the difference with 100%, provides a measure of the proportion of children not enrolled at the specified level of education. However, since some of these children could be enrolled at levels of education other than primary level, this difference should in no way be considered as indicating the percentage of primary school-age children not enrolled.

The girls’ share of primary enrolment refers to the percentage of students enrolled in primary education who are female. This indicator helps assess gender disparity with regard to participation in primary education. When the indicator approaches 50% it reflects a good level of gender parity.

While enrolment data by sex offer an easy way of comparing the extent to which boys and girls are enrolled in schools, these statistics do not reflect differences between boys and girls in rates of school attendance or absenteeism, repetition and dropping out.

(Source: United Nations Statistics Division)