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SHAPING THE FUTURE HOW CHANGING DEMOGRAPHICS CAN POWER HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

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icy makers have now recognized. For example,<br />

India’s 12th Five Year Plan report notes, “Poor<br />

quality of education resulting in weak learning<br />

outcomes at each stage of education is the<br />

central challenge facing the Indian education<br />

sector today.” 17 Around half of children in India<br />

reach the end of primary school without being<br />

able to read at an appropriate level or solve<br />

simple math problems. 18 These deficits have<br />

occurred despite improvements in the reach of<br />

educational systems. In rural areas, poor quality<br />

has promoted an increase in the enrolment of<br />

children aged 6-14 in private schools, from 18.7<br />

percent in 2006 to 29 percent in 2013. 19 Parents<br />

who can afford it typically move their children<br />

to private schools. 20<br />

SECONDARY SCHOOL OPENS OPTIONS,<br />

BUT IS NOT ALWAYS AVAILABLE<br />

Primary school is only a first step towards an<br />

education that equips young people to successfully<br />

live and work, and break the cycle of<br />

poverty otherwise transmitted across generations.<br />

Secondary education offers a bridge to further<br />

learning and more options for employment. It<br />

increases skills and capacities to compete in a<br />

globalized world. With nearly universal primary<br />

education in Asia-Pacific, the number of children<br />

seeking secondary education has increased in<br />

recent years. Many countries now face a twin<br />

challenge of both achieving and sustaining<br />

universal primary education, and scaling up<br />

enrolment in secondary school.<br />

Secondary education has expanded rapidly<br />

in recent years in Asia-Pacific, as in other world<br />

regions. Globally, the gross enrolment ratio<br />

had reached 75 percent by 2013, up from 59<br />

percent in 1999. Progress was somewhat faster<br />

in East Asia and South Asia, albeit with the<br />

rate of expansion greater for lower secondary<br />

education, for students aged 12 to 14, than for<br />

overall secondary education. At 100 percent and<br />

TABLE 3.3:<br />

Despite progress, millions of children still do not complete primary school<br />

Many countries<br />

now face a twin<br />

challenge of sustaining<br />

universal primary<br />

education and scaling<br />

up secondary schooling<br />

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics 2015.<br />

87

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