World Development Indicators 2005

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Ensure that by 2015 children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling

Educating all children

     Education is the foundation of democratic societies and globally competitive economies. It is the basis for reducing poverty and inequality, improving health, enabling the use of new technologies, and creating and spreading knowledge. In an increasingly complex, knowledge-dependent world, primary education, as the gateway to higher levels of education, must be the first priority.

     Since 1990 the world has called for all children to be able to complete primary school, but more than 100 million primary school age children remain out of school.

     To reach the target of universal primary education by 2015, school systems with low completion rates will need to start now to train teachers, build classrooms, and improve the quality of education. Most important, they will have to remove barriers to attendance such as fees and lack of transportation, and address parents’ concern for the safety of their children.

More children everywhere are completing primary school

Primary completion rate (%)

Neither Sub-Saharan Africa nor South Asia are on track to achieve the goal, but in both regions some countries have shown it can be done.

Sub-Saharan Africa	South Asia

East Asia and Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean are close to universal primary education.

East Asia & Pacific	Latin America & Caribbean

Slow progress in Europe and Central Asia reflects the dislocations of the transition period. In the Middle East and North Africa there has been a decline in completion rates for boys.

Europe & Central Asia	Middle East & North Africa

Source: World Bank staff estimates.

Education for all means girls and boys

Primary completion rate, most recent year (% of relevant age group)

Source: World Bank staff estimates.

Except in Latin America and the Caribbean, girls are less likely than boys to complete primary school. Some never enroll, and others drop out because their families need their labor. This disadvantages them permanently. Parents may also be concerned about the safety of girls, especially when schools are far from home.

Inefficient schools slow progress

Net and gross enrollment ratios, primary school, 2001 (% of relevant age group)

Source: World Bank staff estimates.

Large differences between gross enrollment (all ages) rates and net enrollment (age appropriate) rates occur when children delay entering school or frequently repeat grades. Excessive repetition raises the cost of schooling and discourages students from continuing. Sub-Saharan Africa and Europe and Central Asia lack sufficient data to measure regional net enrollment rates.

Rich and poor: an attendance gap

Share of 15- to 19-year-olds completing each grade or higher, by family wealth quintile (%)

In Egypt school attendance of the poorest 20 percent of the population lags from 30 to 45 percentage points behind that of the richest.

Egypt 2000

In India, as in Egypt, most children from rich families enroll and stay in school. But many poor children never enroll, and those who do stay only a few years.

India 1998-99

In a very poor country even children from the richest families may not attend primary school. In Niger few children, rich or poor, stay in school past the primary stage.

Niger 1998

Enrolling all children in school is the starting point. Keeping them in school is the next step. In Peru many children from poor families soon leave school.

Peru 2000

Source: World Bank staff estimates.


	More children everywhere are completing primary school Sub-Saharan Africa South Asia East Asia & Pacific Latin America & Caribbean Europe & Central Asia Middle East & North Africa


	Education for all means girls and boys




	Inefficient schools slow progress




	Rich and poor: an attendance gap Egypt 2000 India 1998-99 Niger 1998 Peru 2000