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Eliminate gender disparity in primary and 
secondary education, preferably by 2005, 
and at all levels by 2015.
 
 
 
When a country educates its girls, its mortality rates usually fall, fertility rates decline, and the health and education prospects of the next generation improve.
 
Unequal treatment of women—by the state, in the market, and by their community and ­family—puts them at a disadvantage throughout their lives and stifles the development prospects of their societies. Illiterate and poorly educated mothers are less able to care for their children. Low education levels and responsibilities for household work prevent women from finding productive employment or participating in public decisionmaking.
 
What will it take to improve girls’ enrollments? Mainly, overcoming the social and economic obstacles that stop parents from sending their daughters to school. For many poor families the economic value of girls’ work at home exceeds the perceived returns to schooling. Improving the accessibility of schools and their quality and affordability is a first step.
 
 
 More girls in school, but many countries have missed the 2005 target
 Ratio of girls to boys in primary and secondary education (%)
  Sub-Saharan Africa   South Asia
   
 
The differences between boys’ and girls’ schooling are greatest in regions with the lowest primary school completion rates and the lowest average incomes.
 
  East Asia & Pacific   Latin America & Caribbean
   
 
East Asia and Pacific has almost achieved the 2005 target. In some Latin American countries girls’ enrollments exceed boys’.
 
  Europe & Central Asia   Middle East & North Africa
   
 
In Europe and Central Asia a strong tradition of educating girls needs to be sustained. In the Middle East and North Africa more girls are overcoming a bias against educating them.
 
 

a. Based on 40 percent of the eligible population.
Source: World Bank staff estimates.

       
 

    
 
 Country by country progress toward equal enrollment
 Share of countries on track to achieve equal enrollment of girls and boys in primary and secondary school (%)
    

Source: World Bank staff estimates.
     

    
The first target of the Millennium Development Goals to fall due calls for enrolling equal numbers of boys and girls in primary and secondary school by 2005, an important stepping stone on the way to full gender equality at all levels of education. But even in regions that have achieved the target on average, such as Europe and Central Asia and Latin American and the Caribbean, some countries still fall short. And in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, where large numbers of children are out of school, girls are at a severe disadvantage.
 
 Degrees of difference
 Ratio of girls’ to boys’ gross enrollment rates (%)
    

Note: A value of more than 100 means that enrollment rates of girls exceed those of boys.
Source: World Bank staff estimates.
     
In a competitive world economy both boys and girls need to be educated to higher levels. Girls are underrepresented in primary education in all regions, but in some they are overrepresented at the secondary level. This may happen because boys take longer to complete primary school or drop out of secondary school faster than girls. In other regions the familiar pattern is repeated: fewer girls are enrolled in primary schools and their share falls even farther at higher levels. Whatever the cause, the result is not equitable.

    
 Wealth, gender, and location make a difference
 Share of children 15– 19 who have completed primary school, by gender (%)
Benin, by wealth quintile, 2002
 

School attendance rates are low in Benin, except among the rich. Poor children rarely complete school, and even among rich families girls have few opportunities to complete primary education.

      
         
        Malawi, by wealth quintile, 2000
 

A recent survey in Malawi found almost equal completion rates for boys and girls, although children of the poorest families are still less likely to attend school.

    
         
        Benin, by urban and rural area, 2002
 

In Benin efforts
to increase girls’
attendance will have to
improve the accessibility
of schools and overcome
the reluctance of rural
families to send their
daughters to school.

    
         
        Malawi, by urban and rural area, 2000
 

In Malawi, where completion rates have risen in recent years, rural areas still lag, but boys and girls are represented equally among those who complete primary school.

    
         

Source: World Bank staff estimates based on Demographic and Health Surveys.
 
 

         
 Text figures & Boxes
More girls in school, but many countries have missed the 2005 target   
 
Sub-Saharan Africa
South Asia
East Asia & Pacific
Latin America & Caribbean
Europe & Central Asia
Middle East & North Africa
   
Country by country progress toward equal enrollment

               

Degrees of difference

           
Wealth, gender, and location make a difference
 
Benin, by wealth quintile, 2002
Malawi, by wealth quintile, 2000
Benin, by urban and rural area, 2002
Malawi, by urban and rural area, 2000