CARICOM CAPACITY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (CCDP)

National Census Report 2001, St. Vincent and the Grenadinesincluding the growing need for pre-schools and therefore lack of access to pre-schools as well asa conscious practice on the part of parents stemming from the fact that pre-school education isnot compulsory and can be costly.A comparison by administrative division shows that the rate of attendance was highest inMarriaqua (40.05 per cent), Kingstown (39.81 per cent) and Georgetown (39.03 per cent), andlowest in Barrouallie (28.49 per cent), Layou (29.84 per cent) and North Grenadines (30.62 percent). The sex ratio of the under-five population attending school was 103, and varied from aslow as 88 in Colonaire, Sandy Bay and South Grenadines to as high as 120 in Kingstown.Table 4.1(a): Percentage Distribution of Children Under 5 Years bySchool Attendance and Administrative Division, 2001AdministrativeDivisionTotal Attending %NotAttending%NotStated%Total 9 969 3 503 35.14 6 447 64.67 19 0.19Kingstown 1 148 457 39.81 690 60.1 1 0.09Kingstown Suburb 1 246 412 33.07 832 66.77 2 0.16Calliaqua 1 996 733 36.72 1 259 63.08 4 0.2Marriaqua 824 330 40.05 493 59.83 1 0.12Bridgetown 651 214 32.87 437 67.13 - 0.0Colonarie 661 227 34.34 430 65.05 4 0.61Georgetown 638 249 39.03 389 60.97 - 0.0Sandy Bay 281 98 34.88 181 64.41 2 0.71Layou 610 182 29.84 428 70.16 - 0.0Barrouallie 544 155 28.49 388 71.32 1 0.18Chateaubelair 658 207 31.46 451 68.54 - 0.0North Grenadines 418 128 30.62 290 69.38 - 0.0South Grenadines 294 111 37.76 179 60.88 4 1.36Bridgetown was the only administrative division to have a sex ratio of 100. In the four divisionswith the highest attendance rate, Kingstown (120), Barrouallie (118), North Grenadines (117)and Kingstown Suburb (116), Kingstown had the highest attendance rate among boys (40.82 per38