Middle East / North Africa and the Millennium Development Goals ...

Markus Loewe
Figure 4: Comparative time-series analysis of school enrolment
rates in different countries
Note: The year in which the countries under consideration reached a school
enrolment rate of 50 % was normalized to 0.
Source: Clemens / Kenny / Moss (2004, 16), Figure 1
One indicator for the efficiency of a school system is the primary-school
completion rate. It covers the proportion of students who start grade one
and finish school after about six years with a formal certificate. This proportion
is relatively high in Egypt, Algeria, Bahrain, Jordan, Oman, Tunisia,
and the UAE – an indication that these countries’ primary schools are
in a position to teach their students the required curricula. The primaryschool
completion rates of Morocco and Yemen are distinctly lower, although
these countries have succeeded since 1990 in increasing their respective
rates appreciably – Morocco from 75 to 84 % and Yemen from
65 to 86 %. If this trend continues, both countries will reach figures of
over 95 % in 2015 for both targets. The picture is different in Syria, Mauritania,
and Sudan, where primary-school completion rates declined, in
some cases appreciably, between 1990 and 2001 (in Syria from 94 to
92 %, but in Mauritania from 75 to 61 %; see Table A4, Annex).
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German Development Institute