STATE OF THE WORLD's INDIGENOUs PEOpLEs - CINU

EMBARGOED UNTIL 14 January 2010STATE OF THE WORLD’S INDIGENOUS PEOPLESNot for distributionAccording to census data in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States, the gap betweenindigenous and non-indigenous peoples’ participation in formal education has narrowed in recent years.Nevertheless, there remains a significant gap. In 2006, 21 per cent of 15-year-old indigenous children inAustralia were not participating in school education, compared with 5 per cent of non-indigenous children,while indigenous students were half as likely to complete year 12 of primary school education as their nonindigenouscounterparts. 18 In the United States, absences from school are higher among indigenous childrenthan other groups.Estimated probability of primary school dropout, Mexico, 2002 (per cent)Indigenous Non-Indigenous AllMale 51.8 25.0 28.2Female 56.6 29.7 32.9Rural 61.8 47.5 51.4Urban 24.4 19.2 19.4Source: Hall and Patrinos (2006).High dropout rates are due to multiple causes: Parents cannot afford the out-of-pocket costs related to keepingtheir children in schools, especially in rural areas where children customarily participate in traditional agriculturalactivities and are valuable contributors to the household economy; they face numerous obstacles (languageproblems, discrimination, etc.) or, in the case of girls, because they have to help their mothers with domesticchores, take care of siblings or contribute to their families’ income, or because they get married.Probability of a 10-14-year-old child working, Guatemala, 2000 (per cent)School only School and work Work, no school No work, no schoolIndigenous 47 24 14 15Non-Indigenous 69 14 8 9Source: Based on table in Hall and Patrinos (2006), 124.18Steering Committee for the Review of Service Provision (2007).134 | CHAPTER IV