Educating out of Poverty? A Synthesis Report on Ghana, India ... - DfID

For families with<strong>out</strong> the resources to pay for private education the response to low quality state
provision is <strong>of</strong>ten to withdraw children from schools. In Rwanda only around a third <strong>of</strong> children
stay in school until the end <strong>of</strong> primary level. In Kenya, Ghana and India less than two thirds
remain in schools (table 1.6).
Table 1.6 : Primary Education: Survival (Completion) Rates and Transition to Secondary
Education in Selected Countries in SSA and India, 2001/2
… missing data (x) data for 1999/2000
** estimates (y) data for 2000/2001
(z) data for 2003/2004
Source: UNESCO, 2005
Survival rate to last grade <strong>of</strong>
primary (%) 2001/2
Chapter 1: Introduction
Transition to secondary (%)
2001/2
Total Male Female Total Male Female
Tanzania 73.9 74.0 73.9**z 18.8 19.8 17.9**z
Rwanda 36.6 36.0 37.2 … … …
Kenya 56.2 … …** 72.5 74.6 70.4**
Ghana 60.0 55.3 65.3 91.0 96.5 85.5**z
India 61.4 59.7 63.5 y 86.7 84.9 89.0
S<strong>out</strong>h Africa 57.4 58.5 56.3 x 91.9 90.7 93.0 x
S<strong>out</strong>h and West Asia 64.9 63.3 66.9 86.7 83.0 89.0
SSA 59.9 57.5 62.4 60.0 73.6 46.0
Table 1.6 also gives the transition rate from primary to secondary schooling as it stood in
2001/2002. With the exception <strong>of</strong> Tanzania, where secondary education has been highly limited
for historical reasons (see below), the majority <strong>of</strong> those completing primary school proceeded
onto secondary education. In the late 1990s primary education was far from universal and large
numbers <strong>of</strong> children dropped <strong>out</strong>. In recent years there has been a huge increase in primary
enrolment, especially in Kenya and Tanzania where school fees were dropped in response to the
EFA movement and donor support. As these extra pupils move through the system, transition
rates are set to fall significantly unless secondary education can be dramatically expanded.
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