Primary school gross and net enrollment

The primary school net enrollment ratio (NER) is the share of children of official primary school age that are enrolled in primary school; the NER cannot exceed 100%. The gross enrollment ratio (GER) is the share of children of any age that are enrolled in primary school. In countries where many children enter school late or repeat a grade the GER can exceed 100%.

• NER = Enrolled children in the official school age group / Total number of children in the official school age group
• GER = Enrolled children of all ages / Total number of children in the official school age group

If many children outside of the official primary school age range are enrolled in primary school, the GER can exceed the NER by a large margin. A comparison of primary school NER and GER can therefore indicate where delayed enrollment and grade repetition are most widespread. The following table lists the average NER and GER by region, as well as the difference between GER and NER and the ratio of GER over NER. The regional values are weighted by the population of primary school age in each country.

Region	Primary school NER (%)	Primary school GER (%)	Difference GER-NER	Ratio GER/NER
East Asia, Pacific	92.0	110.9	18.9	1.21
Eastern and Southern Africa	63.6	92.0	23.4	1.40
Eastern Europe, CIS	87.6	99.7	8.2	1.10
Industrialized countries	95.9	101.0	5.0	1.05
Latin America, Caribbean	95.2	119.7	24.5	1.26
Middle East, North Africa	80.6	91.4	10.5	1.14
South Asia	81.4	94.1	14.4	1.18
West and Central Africa	48.8	79.9	17.2	1.36
World	84.1	99.9	16.0	1.20

Data source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). 2004. Global Education Digest 2004. Montreal: UIS.

The blue circles in the graph below indicate the GER/NER ratio for each country. The red marks indicate the average GER/NER value in each region, listed in the table above, and the 95% confidence interval for this average.

Primary school gross and net enrollment ratios, 2001/2002

Data source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). 2004. Global Education Digest 2004. Montreal: UIS.
Note: Red marks indicate the regional average of GER/NER and the 95% confidence interval.

West and Central Africa, and Eastern and Southern Africa stand out as the two regions with the highest GER/NER ratios, 1.40 and 1.36, respectively. Children in Sub-Saharan Africa often enter school late and stay at the primary level well past primary school age. Latin America and the Caribbean, and East Asia and the Pacific also have GER/NER values above the global average of 1.20, but at much higher net enrollment ratios than the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Friedrich Huebler, 23 April 2005 (edited 24 April 2005), Creative Commons License