people and planet

14
index equal to 0.86, and at the expense of children from
the poorest households, with the wealth parity index
equal to 0.75 (Figures 14.2b and 14.2c).
Disparity can also move in the opposite direction.
Among adolescents of lower secondary school age,
75 females for every 100 males complete lower
secondary school in low income countries, but there
are 96 males for every 100 females in upper middle
income countries (Figure 14.2a).
Disparity by wealth is the most extreme. In upper
middle income countries, the wealth parity index of the
completion rate equals 0.90 in primary education, 0.71
in lower secondary and 0.44 in upper secondary. In low
income countries, the wealth parity index equals 0.36 in
primary education, 0.19 in lower secondary and just 0.07
in upper secondary (Figure 14.2c).
Disparities are much higher for completion than for
attendance. For example, in lower middle income
countries, the wealth parity index is 0.82 for the
attendance rate of adolescents of lower secondary
school age but 0.57 for the lower secondary completion
rate. This suggests that many poorer adolescents still
attend primary school.
Overall, gender disparity appears less severe than
disparity by location or wealth. However, this average
can mask important differences when gender interacts
with either of the other two characteristics. In sub-
Saharan Africa, there is gender parity in the percentage
of those who have ever been to school and those who
have completed primary education among the richest
20%. However, among the poorest 20% there were 89
females for every 100 males who had ever been to school
and 83 females for every 100 males who had completed
primary education. The disparity widens to 73 females
for lower secondary completion and 40 females for upper
secondary completion. By contrast, there is considerable
disparity at the expense of the poorest males in Eastern
and South-eastern Asia in lower and upper secondary
completion (Figure 14.3).
Changes in the parity index over time can also be
monitored. Between 2000 and 2010, across a wide range
of education indicators, Southern Asia made considerable
progress in reducing wealth disparity but sub-Saharan
Africa hardly any; in fact, in upper secondary education,
disparity in the latter region increased, with the value of
the wealth parity index falling from 0.11 in 2000 to 0.09 in
2010 (Figure 14.4).
FIGURE 14.2:
Inequality measures can be calculated for different education indicators and
population group characteristics
Parity index for selected education indicators, by country income group, 2008–2014
Gender parity index
Location parity index
Wealth parity index
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
Parity
Parity
Parity
Ever been
to school
Primary
school age
a. By sex: female vs male
b. By location: rural vs urban
c. By wealth: poorest vs richest
Lower
secondary
school age
In school
High income countries
Lower middle income countries
Upper
secondary
school age
Primary
Low income countries
Lower
secondary
Completed school
Upper middle income countries
Source: GEM Report team analysis (2016) based on household survey data.
Upper
secondary
2016 • GLOBAL EDUCATION MONITORING REPORT 259