Volume 1 Cedric - revised luca Final - RUIG-GIAN

2.3. Social environmentInternationally, the level of human development is measured by three key indictors:health, education, and income.2.3.1. IncomesRises in the consumer price index amounted to 6,943 for 2003, with an index 100 in1993, i.e. a rise by cumulative annual rate of 53 per cent.Current statistics claim that about 7 million people of Iraq's total population (27million) are dependent on food-rationing. The regression in Iraqi households’ standard ofliving is also reflected by the large proportional increase of expenditures on foodstuffs.While this percentage does not exceed 20 per cent in the developed countries, Iraqifamilies currently spend more than 60 per cent of their earnings on food, compared with 45per cent in the mid-1980s.2.3.2. EducationThe widepsread deterioration that was inflicted on the educational system wasreflected in student enrolment rates throughout the educational stages. Despite the increasein the number of students, this does not by all means reflect or match the populationgrowth. 59Table 1: Net Enrolment Rates (NER)YearStudent NER6 years (grade 1 primary)% 6-11 years (primary)% 15-17 years (secondary)%1987-1988 84.9 89.5 19.12001-2002 82.6 88.5 13.9Primary school enrolment fell to 93 per cent in 2000, 60 while secondary schoolenrolment dropped from 47 to 38 per cent. Furthermore a large drop in school attendancewas also evidenced. A United Nations Children’s Fund-led (UNICEF) Multiple IndicatorCluster Survey (MICS) reported in 2000 that as many as 23 per cent of primary school agechildren were not attending school (while formally enrolled), with significantly higherrates among girls and in rural areas. This deterioration created or exacerbated inequities bygender, urban/rural areas and region.Other sub-sectors, especially technical and vocational education, also experiencedstagnation or decline. From 1987 to 2002 the number of vocational institutes declined from248 to 235. The decrease in the number of enrolled students has been dramatic, down from144,303 to 65,377. As for children of pre-school age, the number of kindergartenestablishments fell from 594 to 566 between 1987 and 2002, and likewise the number ofregistered children from 76,558 to 68,179. Despite the increase in student enrolment rates59 Primary Education (Grades 1-6); Secondary Education (Grades 7-12), the latter divided into IntermediateEducation (Grades 7-9) and Preparatory Education (Grades 10-12).60 Except where otherwise indicated, educational data cited in this report are drawn from UNESCO (2003)Situation Analysis of Education in Iraq 2003, UNESCO, Paris, April 2003, and UNICEF/World Bank (2003)Social Sector Watching Brief Iraq (Education), New York/Washington, 2003.53