literacy for life; EFA global monitoring report, 2006 - Institut de ...

EFA PROGRESS: WHERE DO WE STAND? / 41
Eastern Europe, boys predominate, while girls
predominate in many countries of East Asia and
the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean and
in sub-Saharan Africa. Particularly low GPIs
(below 0.90) characterize Morocco, Oman and
Sudan, in the Arab States region, and Nepal and
Pakistan, in South Asia, though some of them
have made significant progress since 1998.
Morocco’s GPI increased from 0.52 in 1998 to 0.62
in 2002 (though it is still the lowest in the table)
and Nepal’s from 0.73 to 0.86 (see statistical
annex, Table 3).
Primary education
Worldwide, progress towards universal primary
education (UPE) has been slow since Dakar –
the global NER in primary education increased
by only one percentage point, from 83.6% in 1998
to 84.6% in 2002 (Table 2.3). There are still
nearly 100 million children of primary school
age who are not enrolled in primary schools,
and quality remains a major issue worldwide,
as discussed in the 2005 Report. Most of sub-
Saharan Africa, South and West Asia, and the
Arab States still combine low participation with
insufficient school supply. At the same time,
though, these are the regions where enrolment
ratios have been increasing most rapidly and
there is evidence that the gender gap is
narrowing, albeit too slowly to reach the Dakar
goal of parity in primary and secondary school
enrolment by 2005.
Access to primary education
Assuring timely access of all children to the first
grade is crucial if UPE is to be achieved by 2015.
Intake rates provide a measure of access. The
gross intake rate (GIR) is the total number of new
entrants into the first grade of primary education,
regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of
the population at the official primary-school
entrance age. It can be higher than 100% if
younger or older enrolment ages are frequent.
The net intake rate (NIR) includes only entrants
who are of the official entrance age, and is thus
a more accurate measure of timely access to
primary schooling. 3
A wide discrepancy between the two indicators
implies that rules defining the official entrance
age are not rigidly enforced or that obstacles to
access exist, such as high costs or an inadequate
supply of schools. GIRs well above 100% are the
Table 2.2: Gender parity index of gross enrolment ratios
in pre-primary education, 2002
Disparities in favour of boys
(34 countries)
Comoros
Burkina Faso
Lesotho
Nigeria
Benin
Seychelles
Morocco
Oman
Sudan
Qatar
Jordan
Yemen
Saudi Arabia
Syrian A. R.
Bahrain
Egypt
Palestinian A. T.
Libyan A. J.
Uzbekistan
Tajikistan
Kyrgyzstan
China
Papua N. Guinea
Viet Nam
Macao, China
Nepal
Pakistan
St Kitts/Nevis
Br. Virgin Is
Germany
Turkey
Latvia
Russian Fed.
Slovenia
Sub-Saharan Africa
0.91 Uganda
0.92 Zimbabwe
0.94 C. A. R.
0.94 Guinea-Bissau
0.95 Congo
0.96 Senegal
S. Tome/Principe
Namibia
Arab States
0.62
0.84
0.86
0.92
0.93
0.93
0.94
0.94
0.94
0.95
0.96
0.96
0.94
0.94
0.95
Georgia
Armenia
Mongolia
East Asia and the Pacific
0.92 Philippines
0.93 Lao PDR
0.94 Cambodia
0.95 Malaysia
Indonesia
Palau
Tuvalu
Tonga
Niue
Samoa
South and West Asia
0.86 Bangladesh
0.88 Iran, Isl. Rep.
Latin America and the Caribbean
0.90 Jamaica
0.95 Honduras
El Salvador
Belize
Saint Lucia
North America and Western Europe
0.95 Greece
Central and Eastern Europe
0.94
0.94
0.94
0.96
Disparities in favour of girls
(29 countries)
Countries GPI (F/M) Countries GPI (F/M)
Central Asia
Note: Countries at gender parity (GPI of 0.97 to 1.03) are not included.
See source table for detailed country notes.
Source: Statistical annex, Table 3.
1.04
1.04
1.05
1.05
1.06
1.10
1.11
1.30
1.06
1.07
1.14
1.04
1.05
1.05
1.08
1.09
1.12
1.16
1.21
1.23
1.24
1.07
1.12
1.05
1.05
1.06
1.07
1.14
1.04
Assuring timely
access of all
children to
the first grade
is crucial if UPE
is to be achieved
by 2015
3. However where the official
entrance age is not actually
the most frequent entrance
age, the NIR can seriously
underestimate access.