FACTS ON CHILDREN

EDUCUATION AND GENDER EQUALITY

Introduction
Education is a basic human right, vital to the development and well-being of individuals and societies as whole. UNICEF advocates quality basic education for all children — girls and boys — with an emphasis on gender equality and eliminating disparities of all kinds. UNICEF works with a range of local, national and international partners to realize the education and gender equality goals.

Education key data

  • The number of children of primary school age who are not attending school fell from an estimated 115 million in 2002 to an estimated 101 million in 2007. Out of these, 53 million are girls.
  • Worldwide, nearly 80 per cent of primary-school-age children attend school. In least developed countries, this figure is around 64 per cent.
  • Primary school attendance is at 60 per cent in West and Central Africa, 66 per cent in Eastern and Southern Africa, 79 per cent in South Asia and 86 per cent in the Middle East and North Africa.
  • The largest out-of-school population is in sub-Saharan Africa, where around 45.5 million children of primary school age are out of school. It is followed by South Asia (35 million), the Middle East and North Africa (6.7 million), East Asia and the Pacific (4.7 million) and Latin America and the Caribbean (4.2 million).
  • Worldwide, only 58 per cent of children of secondary school age attend secondary school. The others are either still enrolled in primary schools or are out of school.
  • In sub-Saharan Africa, children of secondary school age are more likely to be in primary schools than in secondary schools. In fact, only 25 per cent of them are in secondary schools. Throughout the world, 1 out of 6 children of secondary school age is still in primary school.
  • Gender gaps in primary school attendance have almost closed in regions such as East Asia and the Pacific (primary school net enrolment rate or net attendance rate is at 97 per cent each for boys and girls) and Central and Eastern Europe and the Commonwealth of Independent States (primary school net enrolment rate or net attendance rate is 93 per cent for boys and 92 per cent for girls). In Eastern and Southern Africa there are more girls attending primary school than boys (primary school net enrolment rate or net attendance rate is 68 per cent for boys and 69 per cent for girls).

Last updated: May 2009