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The ratio of girls to boys attending primary and secondary education is provided in Table 10.8.
These ratios are better known as the Gender Parity Index (GPI). Note that the ratios included
here are obtained from net attendance ratios rather than gross attendance ratios. 20
Table 10.8 shows that gender parity for primary school is 0.74, indicating a difference in the
primary school attendance between girls and boys, with 74 girls attending primary school for
every 100 boys. The indicator drops significantly by the secondary level, to 0.49. The
disadvantage to girls is particularly pronounced in the Southern region (0.47 for primary
education and 0.16 for secondary education), as well as among children living in the poorest
households (0.62 for primary education and 0.23 for secondary education) and in rural areas
(0.69 for primary education and 0.39 for secondary education).
The School Experience of Children in Afghanistan
Afghanistan has made steady progress in reconstituting the education sector over the past
decade. Most students who begin primary school complete primary school. The challenge lies in
raising primary attendance rates beyond the rate of 55%, and in ensuring a far greater
proportion of primary graduates go on to start and complete a secondary level education. In
particular, there is a sharp drop in girls school attendance after primary school. Afghanistan s
achievement of all of the MDGs rests on the human capital that it can bring to bear to reach its
development objectives. Thus improving education indicators, including gender equity in
education, in particular must be of paramount priority.
20
The last ratios provide an erroneous description of the GPI mainly because in most of the cases, the majority of
over-aged children attending primary education tend to be boys.
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