SBR- Content.pmd - INBO

State of the Basin Report - 2003In Cambodia, NER is above 80 percentthroughout the country, except in thePlateau/Mountain Region, particularly inprovinces with large ethnic minoritypopulations. 72 In the provinces ofRattanakiri and Mondulkiri, the NER is lessthan 50 percent. 73 In Lao PDR, NER inurban areas is 89 percent, compared with63 percent in rural areas. 74 However,ethnic minority areas have significantlylower NER. In 1992, the NER for ethnicLao was about 80 percent, while it wasless than 15 percent for some ethnicminority groups. 75The Millennium Development Goals target 2015 for universal access to primary education, andthat will likely be achieved in Viet Nam and in urban areas in the basin. Nonetheless, regionaldifferences persist in Viet Nam. Net primary enrolment in the Mekong Delta is 90 percent,compared with a national rate of 95 percent. 76 In the Central Highlands, the rate is lower. 77 At thenational level, only 68 percent of school children complete primary education, indicating highdropout rates. 78Table 11. Net primary enrolment (%), 1999-2000 (most recent year)In Cambodia and Lao PDR only about half of allenrolled students complete the primary level ofschoolingTotal Male Female Completion rateCambodia 83.8 80.7 49Lao PDR 77.3 80 72 55Viet Nam 94.8 94 92 68Thailand 78 76Note: Information on NER reflects readily available data.Sources: EMIS-UNICEF 2002; NSC/UNDP 2002; UNDP-Viet Nam 2001c; WB 2002a; WB 2001b; WB 2002cAn important MDG target for gender equality is the elimination of disparities in male and female netsecondary enrolment rates (NSR). For women, opportunities to improve their social and economicconditions are closely linked to continuing their education beyond the primary school. Overall in thebasin, NSR are only 40-50 percent of primary enrolment rates. In Cambodia and Lao PDR, youngwomen account for only 30-40 percent of secondary students. 79 In Cambodia, net secondary enrolmentis the lowest in Southeast Asia. 80The net secondary enrolment is lower in rural areas than in urban areas, and for young womencompared with young men. In Viet Nam, the gender gap has disappeared among urban secondarystudents, but in rural areas only 20 percent of young women attend lower secondary schools, comparedwith 32 percent of young men. 81 A gender gap is also particularly evident in ethnic minority areas.Combined primary and secondary net enrolment rates for ethnic minority children in Viet Nam are76 percent of rates for ethnic majority Kinh children. 82In Thailand and Viet Nam, both boys and girls attend school for an average of 10 to 11 years. InCambodia and Lao PDR, however, the average for years of schooling is much lower (for boys it isonly nine years and for girls only seven years). 8356