Showing posts with label disparity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label disparity. Show all posts

31 July 2017

More children are out of school in poor countries

The rate and number of out-of-school children are strongly correlated with national income: in poorer countries, more children are out of school than in wealthier countries.

The World Bank classifies all countries according to their gross national income (GNI) per capita (World Bank, 2017). The map in Figure 1 shows the distribution of countries by income level according to the July 2016 classification. Low-income countries with the lowest per-capita income are concentrated in sub-Saharan Africa.

Figure 1

Data source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics

Figure 2 shows that the out-of-school rate decreases with increasing national income. Low-income countries have, on average, the highest out-of-school rates, according to estimates by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. 19% of all children of primary school age (about 6 to 11 years) are out of school in low-income countries, compared to only 3% in high-income countries. Among adolescents of lower secondary school age (about 12 to 14 years), more than one third (38%) are out of school in low-income countries. The average out-of-school rate is highest for youth of upper secondary school age (about 15 to 17 years) living in low-income countries: nearly two thirds (62%) are not in school.

Figure 2

Data source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics

The correlation between national income and exclusion from education can also be demonstrated with national data. Figure 3 plots GNI per capita against the primary out-of-school rate. The highest out-of-school rates are observed among countries with the lowest per-capita income. South Sudan, one of the poorest countries, has the world's highest primary out-of-school rate, with 69%. The absolute number of out-of-school children, indicated by the size of the markers in Figure 3, also tends to be higher in countries with lower national income. The three countries with the largest number of out-of-school children – India, Nigeria and Pakistan – are in the lower-middle-income group of countries. The United States of America stands out as a high-income country with a relatively high rate and number of out-of-school children, but analysis by the National Center for Education Statistics shows that the majority of these children are being homeschooled (Redford et al., 2017).

Figure 3

Data source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics

A recent policy paper by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics and the Global Education Monitoring Report (UIS and GEMR, 2017) examines the link between education and poverty. The paper concludes that reaching the Sustainable Development Goal of universal primary and secondary education could reduce the global poverty headcount (measured by the number of persons living on less than $1.90 per day) by more than 420 million, or more than half of the current number.

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20 July 2015

124 million out-of-school children in 2013

New estimates by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) show that approximately 124 million children and adolescents were out of school in 2013. Of this number, 59 million were of primary school age and 65 million were of lower secondary school age. The entrance ages and durations of primary and lower secondary education vary between countries, but primary school age is typically 6-11 years and lower secondary school age is typically 12-15 years.

The estimate for 2013 represents a decrease by 72 million from 2000, when about 196 million children and adolescents were out of school (see Figure 1). Most of this decrease occurred between 2000 and 2007 but since 2007 there has been hardly any progress in reducing the global out-of-school population. In the most recent period there was even a slight increase in the number of out-of-school children and adolescents.

Figure 1: Global number of out-of-school children, 2000-2013

Data source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics

The primary and lower secondary out-of-school rates in 2013 - the percentage of children in these age groups who were not enrolled in primary or secondary education - were 9% and 17%, respectively (see Figure 2). Adolescents of lower secondary school age were thus nearly twice as likely to be out of school as children of primary school age. For the combined population of primary and lower secondary age the out-of-school rate was 12% in 2013.

The trend in the out-of-school rate mirrors the evolution of the number of out-of-school children and adolescents. In 2000, the primary out-of-school rate was 15% and the lower secondary out-of-school rate was 25%. Like the number of out-of-school children, the out-of-school rate fell steadily until 2007 and has remained at nearly the same level since then.

In spite of the lack of progress towards lower out-of-school rates and numbers in recent years, the gap between boys and girls has continued to decrease. At the global level, girls are still more likely to be out of school than boys but the difference between the female and male out-of-school rates fell between 2000 and 2013 from 6 percentage points to 2 percentage points for primary-age children and from 5 percentage points to 1 percentage point for lower-secondary-age adolescents.

Figure 2: Global rate of out-of-school children, 2000-2013

Data source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics

Because of the lag between the collection of national enrollment figures and the release of global out-of-school estimates by the UIS the number of out-of-school children and adolescents in 2015 is not yet known. Nevertheless, it is already clear that the Education for All goal and Millennium Development Goal of universal primary education by 2015 cannot be reached.

A joint fact sheet by the UIS and the Education for All Global Monitoring Report contains more detailed analysis of the most recent out-of-school data and explains that current international aid for primary and secondary education is insufficient, especially for the world's poorest countries.

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31 May 2015

Mean years of schooling in Nepal

On 25 April 2015, Nepal was struck by a severe earthquake that killed more than 8,800 people. Nepal is one of the world's poorest countries, with a gross national income (GNI) per capita of US$730 in 2013, similar to Afghanistan and Burkina Faso. Of 187 countries on the Human Development Index (HDI) 2014, Nepal was at position 145.

The rank of Nepal on the HDI is partly determined by the low level of education of its population. According to the Human Development Report 2014, the population 25 years and older of Nepal had on average 3.2 years of schooling in 2012.

This article takes a closer look at the level of education of the population of Nepal, based on an analysis of data from a 2011 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS). The DHS collected information on the highest grade of school completed for all household members 3 years and older, which can be used to calculate the years of schooling of individuals and the average years of schooling of the entire population or specific sub-groups. According to the DHS data, the population 25 years and older in Nepal has on average 3.3 years of schooling (Figure 1). The duration of primary education in Nepal is 5 years, which means that the average adult 25 years and older has less than completed primary education.

Urban residents have nearly twice as many years of schooling as rural residents, with 5.7 and 2.9 years respectively. There is a strong correlation between mean years of schooling and household wealth. Persons 25 years and older from the poorest household quintile have only 1.1 years of schooling on average, compared to 6.6 years in the richest quintile.

Figure 1: Mean years of schooling, population 25 years and older, Nepal 2011

Data source: Nepal Demographic and Health Survey, 2011.

Figure 1 also presents data for the development regions and ecological zones of Nepal. The country is administratively divided into five development regions (Far-Western, Mid-Western, Western, Central, and Eastern), 14 administrative zones, and 75 districts. The country is also divided into three ecological zones: Mountain, Hills and Terai. The development regions and ecological zones are shown in Figure 2. The epicenter of the April 2015 earthquake was in the Lamjung district in the Western development region. The capital Kathmandu, which was also severely affected by the earthquake, is in the Central development region.

The population in the Far-Western and Western development regions has 2.6 mean years of schooling, below the national average of 3.3 years. The population of the Western, Central and Eastern development regions is at or slightly above the national average. Residents of the Mountain zone have on average 2.2 years of schooling, while those in the Hill and Terai zone have 3.5 and 3.3 years, respectively.

Gender disparity in educational attainment affects all regions and sub-groups of the population in Figure 1. At the national level, women 25 years and older have only 2.2 years of schooling on average, compared to 4.6 years among men. There is a large gap between the mean years of schooling of men and women in both rural and urban areas of Nepal. Women from the poorest household quintile have only 0.5 mean years of schooling, less than any other group in Figure 1; men in the poorest quintile have 1.9 years of schooling. In the richest quintile, women have on average 6.2 years of schooling, compared to 8.1 years for men. Gender disparity is also present in all development regions and ecological zones.

Figure 2: Development regions, districts, and ecological zones of Nepal

Source: United Nations Nepal Information Platform, retrieved May 2015.

A comparison of different age groups reveals that in spite of the low average years of schooling Nepal has made impressive progress over the past decades. Younger cohorts have without exception more years of schooling than older cohorts (Figure 3). 20- to 24-year-olds have on average 6.9 years of schooling, compared to less than 1 year of schooling among those 65 years and older. In rural areas those 20-24 years old have on average 6.5 years of schooling and those in urban areas 8.5 years. The poorest residents of Nepal are still very much behind those from wealthier segments of the population but even here there has been an improvement among younger generations. 20- to 24-year-olds from the poorest quintile have on average 3.6 years of schooling. In the richest quintile, those aged 20-24 years have 9.6 years of schooling on average, more than any other group in Figure 3.

Figure 3: Mean years of schooling by age group, Nepal 2011

Data source: Nepal Demographic and Health Survey, 2011.

The disparity between women and men in younger cohorts is also far smaller than among older cohorts. Figure 4 shows two indicators of gender disparity. The difference between the mean years of schooling of men and women is plotted against the left vertical axis. Nationwide, 20- to 24-year-old women have on average 1.9 fewer years of schooling than men in the same age group.The biggest absolute gap is observed in the poorest household quintile; here, women 20-24 years have on average 2.8 fewer years of schooling than men. The smallest difference between male and female years of schooling, 0.7 years, is observed among 20- to 24-year-olds in the richest quintile.

A second indicator of gender disparity, female mean years of schooling as a percentage of male mean years of schooling, is plotted against the right vertical axis of Figure 4. At gender parity, this value is around 100%. In all groups in Figure 4, younger women are approaching the average years of schooling of men in the same age group. In Nepal as a whole, 20- to 24-year-old women have on average 76% of the years of schooling of their male peers. In the richest quintile, the youngest women have reached 93% of the years of schooling of men in the same age group. By contrast, young women from the poorest household quintile have only half the years of schooling of young men.

Over time, the increasing educational attainment among younger age groups will be reflected in the mean years of schooling of the entire population 25 years and older. Similarly, the gap between men and women will shrink. However, those in poor households and residents of certain regions - especially the Far-Western and Mid-Western region and the mountain zone - are lagging behind other parts of Nepal.

Figure 4: Gender disparity in mean years of schooling by age group, Nepal 2011

Data source: Nepal Demographic and Health Survey, 2011.

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31 January 2014

Mean years of schooling in Burkina Faso

In Burkina Faso, the population aged 25 years and older had on average 0.9 years of education in 2007, less than any other country for which the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) released estimates of mean years of schooling in December 2013.

The educational attainment of different age cohorts in Burkina Faso can also be examined with data from a Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) conducted in 2010. On average, persons aged 25 years and older in the DHS sample attended school for 1.4 years, slightly more than in the UIS data from 2007. The DHS data show a significant gender gap, with men having on average nearly twice as many years of schooling as women (1.9 years versus 1 year).

However, the disparity between men and women in Burkina Faso is not nearly as large as the disparity between the urban and rural population. In urban areas, the average number of years of education is 4.1 years, compared to 0.5 years in rural areas. Urban women have 11 times as many years of schooling as rural women (3.3 years versus 0.3 years). For men, mean years of schooling is 5.0 in urban areas and 0.7 in rural areas.

Mean years of schooling of the population 25 years and older, Burkina Faso, 2010
Total Male Female
Total 1.4 1.9 1.0
Urban 4.1 5.0 3.3
Rural 0.5 0.7 0.3
Source: Burkina Faso Demographic and Health Survey 2010.

The DHS data can also be used to compare the educational attainment of different age groups. The figure below visualizes mean years of schooling by five-year age group, from persons aged 20-24 years to those aged 70-74 years and 75 years and older. The graph is divided into nine segments with data for the total, male and female population of Burkina Faso, as well as the total, male and female population of urban and rural areas of the country. The blue line in each segment indicates the mean years of schooling by age group for the respective population group. In addition, each segment of the graph shows the lines for the other eight segments in light gray to make it easier to compare the data for the different groups.

One common feature across all population groups is that younger generations have more formal schooling than older generations, reflecting an expansion of access to education over time. In the total population, mean years of schooling increased from 0.1 years among those 75 years and older to 2.9 years among 20- to 24-year-olds. The biggest growth is observed among urban men: for this group, mean years of schooling is 0.8 years in the oldest cohort and 7.2 years among those aged 20-24 years. Rural women have traditionally been least likely to attend school but even here there is an upward trend: rural women 75 years and older have on average 0 years of schooling whereas rural women aged 20-24 years have on average 0.9 years of schooling.

In conclusion, although the average level of education in Burkina Faso is very low, the situation is improving over time because children are more likely to attend school today than in previous decades. At the same time, the population of rural areas continues to be at a distinct disadvantage and lack of access to education is especially widespread among rural women.

Mean years of schooling by five-year age group, Burkina Faso, 2010 (click image to enlarge)

Source: Burkina Faso Demographic and Health Survey 2010.

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28 December 2013

Mean years of schooling

Mean years of schooling (MYS), the average number of completed years of education of a population, is a widely used measure of a country's stock of human capital. Since 2010, MYS is used as one of two education indicators (the second education indicator is the school life expectancy) in the calculation of the Human Development Index (HDI) (UNDP, 2010).

A well-known data set with estimates of MYS was developed by Robert Barro and Jong-Wha Lee, two pioneers in this field of work. In 1993, Barro and Lee published an article describing their data set, which was partly derived from data on educational attainment by the Division of Statistics of UNESCO. Barro and Lee continue to update their data set, which is available at their website.

In December 2013, the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), the successor of the Division of Statistics of UNESCO, published its first estimates of MYS of the population aged 25 years and older. This indicator, used in the calculation of the HDI, had previously not been available in the database of the UIS. The UIS methodology is based on the approach by Barro and Lee. There are still important gaps in the UIS database but the UIS will attempt to fill them in the coming years.

The figure below summarizes the MYS estimates released by the UIS in December 2013. The UIS provides data for 103 countries and territories from the period 1996 to 2013. In the figure, only the latest available data are shown for each country. All countries are grouped by geographic region and sorted by MYS of the total population. As noted above, there are large gaps in the UIS database. For example, MYS estimates are only available for 13 of the 45 countries in sub-Saharan Africa. For two thirds of all countries, the MYS estimates are from 2007 or a later year but for the remaining countries, the most recent estimates are more than 6 years old. In spite of these gaps, some interesting patterns can be observed in the data.

MYS is highest (generally 8 years or more) in North America and Western Europe, Central Asia, and Central and Eastern Europe. Among the countries with data, the highest MYS was calculated for the United Kingdom in 2011: 13.8 years. By contrast, MYS values are lowest in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. In Burkina Faso, men and women 25 years and older completed on average less than one year of schooling.

Gender disparities, indicated by the difference between male and female MYS, are smallest in North America and Western Europe and in Central Asia, and largest in sub-Saharan Africa and in South and West Asia. In Pakistan, adult men had on average completed 3 more years of schooling than adult women in 2011 (6.2 years for men versus 3.1 years for women). In East Asia and the Pacific and in sub-Saharan Africa, the spread between the countries with the lowest and highest MYS is more than 10 years. In the Arab States, Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and North America and Western Europe, the difference between the countries with the lowest and highest MYS is 6 years or less.

Mean years of schooling of the population 25 years and older, latest year available (click image to enlarge)

Note: Countries in each region sorted by MYS of total population.
Source: UIS Data Centre, December 2013, http://stats.uis.unesco.org.

The full data set with UIS estimates of MYS is available in the UIS Data Centre. The data set lists MYS values for the total, male and female population 25 years and older of 103 countries and territories, as well as the educational attainment data on which the MYS estimates are based.

  • Go to the UIS Data Centre at http://stats.uis.unesco.org.
  • Click on "Predefined Tables".
  • Click on "Literacy and Educational Attainment".
  • Click on "Mean years of schooling of population aged 25 years and older" to download an Excel file with all data.

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27 October 2013

National, regional and global literacy trends, 1985-2015

The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) has released a new report on literacy (UIS 2013). The report, Adult and Youth Literacy: National, Regional and Global Trends, 1985-2015, contains a comprehensive overview of literacy data for 151 countries and territories from seven regions: Arab States, Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, East Asia and the Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America and Western Europe, South and West Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. A summary of the most recent literacy rates and estimates of the illiterate population is accompanied by historical data for the period since 1985 and projections to 2015, the target year of Education for All and the Millennium Development Goals.

The table and figure below present adult literacy rates, for the population 25 years and older, at the regional and global level between 1990 and 2015. In spite of persistent illiteracy in some parts of the world - see the article "Adult and youth literacy in 2011" - the adult literacy rate has increased in all regions since 1990. The global adult literacy rate grew from 76% in 1990 to 82% in 2000 and 84% in 2011, the most recent year with data. (In the report, 1990 data refer to the period 1985-1994, 2000 data to the period 1995-2004, and 2011 data to the period 2005-2011.)

Progress at the regional level has varied. In three regions - Arab States, South and West Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa - approximately half of all adults were illiterate in 1990. In the Arab States, the adult literacy rate increased by 22% between 1990 and 2011. In South and West Asia, the adult literacy rate increased by 16% over the same period. In sub-Saharan Africa, progress was much more modest, with an increase in the adult literacy rate of only 6%. East Asia and the Pacific is approaching universal adult literacy, and Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia were already near universal literacy in 1990. No regionally representative data are available for North America and Western Europe.

Adult literacy rate (population 25 years and older) by region, 1990-2015
Region Adult literacy rate (%)
1990 2000 2011 2015 projection 2015 target
Arab States 55.2 67.5 76.9 79.2 83.8
Central and Eastern Europe 96.0 97.4 98.5 98.0 98.7
Central Asia 97.9 99.0 99.5 99.6 99.5
East Asia and the Pacific 81.9 94.5 94.7 95.8 95.8
Latin America and the Caribbean 85.7 89.7 91.6 92.8 94.9
North America and Western Europe - - - - -
South and West Asia 46.7 58.9 62.8 70.4 79.5
Sub-Saharan Africa 53.2 57.2 59.1 63.6 78.6
World 75.7 81.9 84.1 86.1 91.0
Note: 1990 data are for the period 1985-1994, 2000 data are for 1995-2004, 2011 data are for 2005-2011.
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). 2013. "Adult and Youth Literacy: National, Regional and Global Trends, 1985-2015". UIS information paper. Montreal: UIS. http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/Documents/literacy-statistics-trends-1985-2015.pdf.

The EFA goals, adopted at the World Education Forum in Dakar in 2000, call for a "50% improvement in levels of adult literacy by 2015" (UNESCO 2005). For monitoring, this goal is typically interpreted to mean a reduction of the adult illiteracy rate by 50% between 2000 and 2015. EFA goals were set for countries, not regions, but for the analysis in the UIS report, target values were also calculated at the regional and global levels. At the global level, for example, halving adult illiteracy between 2000 and 2015 implies a target adult literacy rate of 91% for the year 2015.

Adult literacy rates are projected to increase in almost all regions between 2011 and 2015. The exception is Central and Eastern Europe, where projections indicate a small drop in adult literacy. The global adult literacy rate is projected to reach 86% in 2015, meaning that the target literacy rate would be missed by 5%. As the figure below shows, sub-Saharan Africa is projected to be furthest from the 2015 target, with an estimated adult literacy rate of 64%, 15% below the target of 79%. South and West Asia is projected to reach an adult literacy rate of 70% in 2015, 9% below the target for 2015. Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and East Asia and the Pacific are projected to reach or come within one percentage point of the 2015 target.

Adult literacy rate (population 25 years and older) by region, 1990-2015

Notes: (1) Regions sorted by the projected literacy rate of the adult population in 2015. (2) 1990 data are for the period 1985-1994, 2000 data are for 1995-2004, 2011 data are for 2005-2011.
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). 2013. "Adult and Youth Literacy: National, Regional and Global Trends, 1985-2015". UIS information paper. Montreal: UIS. http://www.uis.unesco.org/Education/Documents/literacy-statistics-trends-1985-2015.pdf.

The UIS report contains more detailed information on adult literacy rates and the adult illiterate population, youth literacy rates (for the population 15-24 years) and the youth illiterate population, historical trends and projections to 2015, a summary of UIS methodology in the area of literacy, and an annex with six statistical tables and 151 figures with national literacy data.

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08 September 2013

Adult and youth literacy in 2011

8 September is International Literacy Day, an occasion to reflect on the status of literacy worldwide. Globally, 84% of all adults 15 years and older were able to read and write in 2011, the most recent year for which the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) has released data (see Table 1). Two regions, Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia, are near universal literacy, with adult literacy rates of 99% and 100%, respectively. Literacy rates are assumed to be at a similarly high level in North America and Western Europe but data coverage is insufficient for the calculation of a regional average. Literacy rates are also high in East Asia and the Pacific (95%) and in Latin America and the Caribbean (92%). In the remaining regions, adult literacy rates are below the global average: Arab States (77%), South and West Asia (63%), and sub-Saharan Africa (59%).

Male and female adult literacy rates are at nearly the same levels in three regions: Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean (see Table 1). In the Arab States, East Asia and the Pacific, South and West Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa, female literacy rates are lower than male literacy rates. The gender parity index (GPI), the ratio of the female over the male literacy rate, shows that the biggest gender gap exists in South and West Asia (GPI 0.70) and in sub-Saharan Africa (GPI 0.74). Globally, the male literacy rate is 89% and the female literacy rate 80%, which yields a GPI of 0.90, far below the range of gender parity with GPI values between 0.97 and 1.03.

Table 1: Adult and youth literacy rate, 2011
Region Adult literacy rate (%) Youth literacy rate (%)
Total Male Female GPI Total Male Female GPI
Arab States 76.9 84.7 68.4 0.81 89.9 93.2 86.5 0.93
Central and Eastern Europe 98.5 99.3 97.8 0.99 99.3 99.5 99.2 1.00
Central Asia 99.5 99.6 99.4 1.00 99.7 99.6 99.8 1.00
East Asia and the Pacific 94.7 96.9 92.5 0.95 98.9 98.9 98.8 1.00
Latin America and the Caribbean 91.6 92.2 90.9 0.99 97.1 96.8 97.4 1.01
North America and Western Europe - - - - - - - -
South and West Asia 62.8 74.0 51.9 0.70 80.7 86.8 74.9 0.86
Sub-Saharan Africa 59.1 68.1 50.6 0.74 69.5 75.6 63.7 0.84
World 84.1 88.6 79.9 0.90 89.5 92.2 86.8 0.94
Note: GPI = gender parity index.
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Data Centre, September 2013.

National adult literacy rates are displayed in Figure 1. Countries in sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia have generally lower literacy rates than countries in other regions. In 11 countries, nearly all in sub-Saharan Africa, fewer than half of all adults are able to read and write: Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Ethiopia, Guinea, Haiti, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Senegal, and Sierra Leone.

Figure 1: Adult literacy rate, 2011

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Data Centre, September 2013. - Click image to enlarge.

The UIS estimates that the adult illiterate population was 774 million in 2011 (see Table 2). Three out of four illiterate adults live in only two regions: South and West Asia (407 million) and sub-Saharan Africa (182 million). In all regions, the number of illiterate women is larger than the number of illiterate men. Globally, 493 million or two thirds of the adult illiterate population are female.

Table 2: Adult and youth illiterate population, 2011
Region Adult illiterate population (000) Youth illiterate population (000)
Total Male Female % female Total Male Female % female
Arab States 47,603 16,082 31,521 66.2 6,037 2,099 3,938 65.2
Central and Eastern Europe 4,919 1,104 3,815 77.5 386 157 229 59.4
Central Asia 290 108 182 62.7 45 30 14 32.5
East Asia and the Pacific 89,478 26,356 63,122 70.5 4,081 2,005 2,076 50.9
Latin America and the Caribbean 35,614 15,994 19,620 55.1 3,043 1,676 1,367 44.9
North America and Western Europe - - - - - - - -
South and West Asia 407,021 147,352 259,669 63.8 61,778 22,316 39,461 63.9
Sub-Saharan Africa 181,950 70,535 111,414 61.2 47,558 19,196 28,362 59.6
World 773,549 280,366 493,184 63.8 123,198 47,626 75,571 61.3
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Data Centre, September 2013.

The global youth literacy rate, for the population 15 to 24 years of age, was 90% in 2011 (see Table 1). Youth literacy rates are higher than adult literacy rates in all regions, a result of increased levels of school attendance among younger generations. Of the regions with data, four are near universal youth literacy: Central and Eastern Europe (99%), Central Asia (100%), East Asia and the Pacific (99%), and Latin America and the Caribbean (97%). In the Arab States, the youth literacy rate is 90%. In South and West Asia (81%) and sub-Saharan Africa (70%), the youth literacy rate is below the global average.

Literacy rates among the population 15-24 years are not only higher than among the total population 15 years and older, there is also a smaller gap between the literacy rates of young men and women (see Table 1). However, gender disparity in youth literacy is observed in the Arab States (GPI 0.93), South and West Asia (GPI 0.86), and sub-Saharan Africa (GPI 0.84); in these regions, young women are less likely to be able to read and write than young men. At the global level, the male youth literacy rate is 92% and the female youth literacy rate 87%.

National youth literacy rates are displayed in Figure 2. Sub-Saharan Africa stands out as the one region where youth literacy rates are significantly lower than in other regions. Seven countries have youth literacy rates below 50%: Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Guinea, Liberia, Mali, and Niger.

Figure 2: Youth literacy rate, 2011

Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Data Centre, September 2013. - Click image to enlarge.

The youth illiterate population, a subset of the adult illiterate population, was estimated at 123 million in 2011 (see Table 2). Illiterate youth are concentrated in South and West Asia and sub-Saharan Africa; 89% of the global population of illiterate youth live in these two regions. Whereas women are the majority of illiterate adults in all regions, there is no such clear pattern among illiterate youth. In two regions, Central Asia and Latin America and the Caribbean, young men are more likely to lack basic reading and writing skills than young women. Even so, 61% of the global number of illiterate youth are female.

More detailed statistics and analysis are available from the the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, including a page with an interactive world map with adult and youth literacy rates, a fact sheet on adult and youth literacy, an infographic for International Literacy Day 2013, and a report on national, regional and global trends in adult and youth literacy between 1985 and 2015.

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31 July 2012

61 million out-of-school children in 2010

61 million children of primary school age were out of school in 2010, down from a high of over 110 million out-of-school children in the mid-1990s, according to new estimates by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). 32 million or 53% of the 61 million out-of-school children were girls.

The trend in out-of-school numbers since 1990 is illustrated in Figure 1. Much of the global progress over the past 15 years is due to developments in South and West Asia, where the number of out-of-school children fell from a high of 41 million in 1998 to 13 million in 2010.

Progress in sub-Saharan Africa, another region with a historically large number of out-of-school children, has been much more modest, by comparison. Here, the number of children out of school decreased from a high of 43 million in 1996 to 31 million in 2010. As a result, sub-Saharan Africa today is home to half of all out-of-school children worldwide.

In relative terms, the global out-of-school rate fell from 18% in the early 1990s to 9% in 2010, in spite of a large increase in the number of children of primary school age over the same period. However, the estimates by UIS also show that the out-of-school rate and the number of out-of-school children have stagnated over the past three years, partly because sub-Saharan Africa is struggling to increase enrolment rates in primary education while being confronted with continued strong population growth. At this rate, the world is unlikely to reach the Millennium Development Goal and Education for All goal of universal primary education by 2015.

Figure 1: Global number of out-of-school children of primary school age, by region and sex, 1990-2010
Global number of children out of school from 1990 to 2010
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, July 2012. - Click image to enlarge.

The regional distribution of children in and out of school is illustrated in Figure 2. The width of each region in the graph indicates the size of the population of primary school age. The height of the bars indicates which proportion of children in each region is in or out of school.

In absolute terms, Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest number of children out of school (31 million), although its primary school-age population (132 million) is smaller than that of two other regions: South and West Asia, and East Asia and the Pacific. In relative terms, Sub-Saharan Africa also has the highest out-of-school rate of all regions. 23% of all primary school-age children have either never attended school or left school without completing primary education.

In South and West Asia, the proportion of out-of-school children (8%) is smaller than in sub-Saharan Africa and the Arab States, but in absolute terms, the region is home to 13 million out-of-school children, second only to sub-Saharan Africa. More than half of all out-of-school children in South and West Asia live in only two countries: India (2.3 million) and Pakistan (5.1 million).

East Asia and the Pacific has 168 million children of primary school age, nearly as many as South and West Asia, but only 4% are out of school. Still, due to the large primary school-age population in the region, this means that 7 million children are excluded from education.

The remaining regions have significantly fewer children out of school: Arab States (5.0 million), Latin America and the Caribbean (2.7 million), North America and Western Europe (1.3 million), Central and Eastern Europe (0.9 million), and Central Asia (0.3 million).

Figure 2: Global distribution of children of primary school age in and out of school, 2010
Distribution of children in and out of school, by region, 2010
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, July 2012. - CA = Central Asia, CEE = Central and Eastern Europe, LAC = Latin America and the Caribbean, NAWE = North America and Western Europe. - Figure 2 was created with the spineplot add-on for Stata (Cox 2008). - Click image to enlarge.

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31 March 2012

World Atlas of Gender Equality in Education

Cover of the UNESCO gender atlas

UNESCO and the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) have published a new World Atlas of Gender Equality in Education that illustrates the participation of girls and boys in pre-primary, primary, secondary, and tertiary education. The data show that there has been significant progress towards gender parity since the 1970s. Two thirds of all countries have reached gender parity in primary education but at the secondary level of education girls are still lagging behind. In some countries, girls have the advantage with regard to access to and completion of education. At the tertiary level, female students outnumber male students in many high-income countries.

The atlas is divided into eight chapters that contain a total of 28 maps and close to 100 charts and tables:

  1. Increased worldwide demand for quality schooling
  2. Girls’ right to education
  3. Enrolment and gender trends: primary education
  4. Enrolment and gender trends: secondary education
  5. Enrolment and gender trends: tertiary education
  6. Trends in school-life expectancy
  7. Gender trends: adult and youth literacy
  8. How policies affect gender equality in education

An excerpt from Chapter 7 on literacy is shown below. The map (please click the image for a larger view) visualizes adult literacy rates from the database of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Among countries with data, literacy rates are lowest in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. The highest adult literacy rates are observed in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. For many developed countries, the adult literacy rate is unknown because these countries have achieved universal primary education and no longer report data on the traditional literate-illiterate dichotomy, focusing instead on the more narrowly defined concept of functional literacy.

The atlas is available in English, French and Spanish. In addition, UNESCO and UIS plan to launch an online e-atlas with interactive maps.

Excerpt from World Atlas of Gender Equality in Education: Map with adult literacy rates
World map with adult literacy rates
Source: UNESCO, 2012, World Atlas of Gender Equality in Education, pages 92-93. - Click image to enlarge.

Reference

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19 September 2010

Global Education Digest 2010

Cover of the Global Education Digest 2010On 17 September, the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) announced the publication of the Global Education Digest 2010. This year's edition of the GED focuses on gender and education.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) call for the elimination of gender disparity at all levels of education by 2015 but according to the GED, only 85 of 157 countries with data will have reached gender parity in primary and secondary education by 2015, if current trends continue. 23 countries are unlikely to reach the goal at the primary level and 63 countries are unlikely to do so at the secondary level.

Gender disparities in access to education are greatest in sub-Saharan Africa, South and West Asia, and to a lesser extent in the Arab States. In these regions, fewer girls than boys are enrolled in primary, secondary and tertiary education. The opposite - gender disparity in favor of girls - can be observed in tertiary education in Central and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean, and North America and Western Europe.

Other topics discussed in the Global Education Digest 2010 include: the differences between boys and girls in terms of progression through and completion of primary and secondary education; the interaction between gender, socio-economic status, geographic location, ethnicity and other factors as determinants of participation in education; differences in learning achievement of boys and girls; trends in adult literacy; women's choice of field of study at the tertiary level of education; and national education policies.

The statistical tables in the GED were updated with data up to 2008 for most indicators. All data are also available at the UIS Data Centre.

Reference
  • UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS). 2010. Global education digest 2010: Comparing education statistics across the world. Montreal: UIS. (Download in PDF format, 8 MB)
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08 September 2010

Trends in adult literacy, 1990-2008

8 September is International Literacy Day, which was first celebrated in 1966. New estimates of adult and youth literacy by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) show that the percentage of literate persons continues to grow worldwide. Even so, in 2008, 796 million adults aged 15 years or older - 17% of all adults worldwide - still lacked basic reading and writing skills and 64% of them were women (see UIS fact sheet on adult and youth literacy). By comparison, 24% of all adults were illiterate in 1990.

Figure 1 displays how the adult literacy rate and the associated gender parity index (GPI) have evolved between 1990 and 2008 for the 10 Millennium Development Goal regions and for the world as a whole. The gender parity index is the ratio of the female over the male literacy rate. For example, the female and male literacy rate in 2008 - 78.9% and 88.2%, respectively - yield a GPI of 0.9 (see Table 1). A GPI between 0.97 and 1.03 is usually considered gender parity. At GPI values below 1, women are disadvantaged and at GPI values above 1, men are disadvantaged. If a country or region reaches universal literacy, with male and female literacy rates of 100%, the GPI must be 1 by definition. This can be seen in the developed regions and in the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), both of which are near universal literacy with a GPI of 1.

Figure 1: Adult literacy rate and gender parity, 1990-2008
Graph with trends in adult literacy and gender parity from 1990 to 2008
Data source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Data Centre, September 2010.

At the global level, both the adult literacy rate and gender parity improved over the past 20 years. The literacy rate grew from 76% in 1990 to 83% in 2008 and the GPI from 0.84 to 0.90 (see Table 1). Progress was especially strong in Northern Africa, where the adult literacy rate increased by 20%, and in Eastern and Southern Asia, which saw an increase of 15%. In Northern Africa and Southern Asia less than half of all adults were literate in 1990, less than in any other region. In 2008, the lowest literacy rates were observed in Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, with 62% and 63%, respectively. However, even sub-Saharan Africa managed to increase the share of adults with basic reading and writing skills by 9% between 1990 and 2008. In the remaining regions, the increase in the adult literacy rate over the past two decades was as follows: Western Asia 11%; South-Eastern Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean 7%; Oceania 4%; CIS 1%; and the developed regions 0.3%. The rate of increase in the developed regions and in the CIS countries was neglible because both regions had already reached near-universal adult literacy in 1990. Literacy rates are also high in Eastern Asia, South-Eastern Asia, and Latin America and the Caribbean; in all three regions more than 9 out of 10 adults are able to read and write.

Gender parity also improved in all MDG regions, with Northern Africa again showing the biggest increase, from 0.57 in 1990 to 0.76 in 2008, followed by Eastern Asia and Southern Asia, where the GPI increased by 0.14 over the same period. In spite of this increase, Southern Asia continues to exhibit relatively high gender disparity in adult literacy, with a GPI of 0.70. The UIS reports similar disparities for sub-Saharan Africa (0.75) and Northern Africa (0.76). In the other regions the GPI for adult literacy was as follows in 2008: Western Asia 0.84, Oceania 0.89, Eastern Asia 0.94, South-Eastern Asia 0.95, and CIS and the developed regions 1.00.

Table 1: Adult literacy rate and gender parity, 1990-2008
MDG region Year Adult literacy rate (%)
Total Male Female GPI
Developed regions 1990 98.7 99.0 98.4 0.99

2008 99.0 99.2 98.9 1.00
Commonwealth of Independent States 1990 98.1 99.4 97.1 0.98

2008 99.5 99.7 99.4 1.00
Eastern Asia 1990 78.9 87.7 69.7 0.80

2008 93.8 96.8 90.7 0.94
South-Eastern Asia 1990 84.8 90.0 80.0 0.89

2008 91.9 94.5 89.5 0.95
Southern Asia 1990 47.3 60.1 33.5 0.56

2008 61.9 73.2 50.9 0.70
Western Asia 1990 73.8 84.2 62.6 0.74

2008 84.5 91.5 76.9 0.84
Northern Africa 1990 47.8 60.8 34.6 0.57

2008 67.3 76.7 58.1 0.76
Sub-Saharan Africa 1990 53.1 63.7 43.1 0.68

2008 62.5 71.6 53.6 0.75
Latin America and the Caribbean 1990 84.4 85.9 82.8 0.96

2008 91.0 91.9 90.3 0.98
Oceania 1990 62.9 68.9 56.5 0.82

2008 66.4 70.2 62.6 0.89
World 1990 75.7 82.2 69.2 0.84

2008 83.4 88.2 78.9 0.90
Data source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Data Centre, September 2010.

National and regional literacy rates can be obtained from the UIS Data Centre. From the main Data Centre page at stats.uis.unesco.org, click on Predefined Tables and then Literacy. National literacy rates are available for the years 1975 to 2008. Regional and global literacy rates are presented by census decade, from 1985-1994 to 2005-2008.

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