estimated by the United Nations Educational, Scien- tific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics and the World Bank. These indicators measure an education system’s success in extend- ing coverage to all students, maintaining the flow of students from one grade to the next, and imparting a particular level of education.
Gross intake rate indicates the general level of access to primary education. It also indicates the capacity of the education system to provide access to primary education. Low gross intake rates in grade 1 reflect the fact that many children do not enter primary school even though school attendance, at least through the primary level, is mandatory in all countries. Because the gross intake rate includes all new entrants regardless of age, it can be more than 100 percent. Once enrolled, students drop out for a variety of reasons, including low quality of schooling, discouragement over poor performance, and the direct and indirect costs of schooling. Students’ progress to higher grades may also be limited by the availability of teachers, classrooms, and educational materials.
The share of cohort reaching grade 5 (cohort survival rate) is estimated as the proportion of an entering cohort of grade 1 students that eventually reaches grade 5. It measures the holding power and internal efficiency of an education system. Cohort survival rates approaching 100 percent indicate a high level of retention and a low level of dropout.
Cohort survival rates are typically estimated from data on enrollment and repetition by grade for two consecutive years, in a procedure called the recon- structed cohort method. This method makes three simplifying assumptions: dropouts never return to school; promotion, repetition, and dropout rates remain constant over the entire period in which the cohort is enrolled in school; and the same rates apply to all pupils enrolled in a given grade, regardless of whether they previously repeated a grade (Fredrick- sen 1993). Given these assumptions, cross-country comparisons should be made with caution, because other flows—caused by new entrants, reentrants, grade skipping, migration, or school transfers during the school year—are not considered.
The UNESCO Institute for Statistics measures the share of cohort reaching grade 5 because research suggests that five to six years of schooling is a critical threshold for the achievement of sustainable basic literacy and numeracy skills. But the indicator only indirectly reflects the quality of schooling, and a high rate does not guarantee these learning outcomes.
Measuring actual learning outcomes requires set- ting curriculum standards and measuring students’ learning progress against those standards through standardized assessments or tests.
The data on repeaters are often used to indicate the internal efficiency of the education system. Repeaters not only increase the cost of education for the family and for the school system, but also use limited school resources. Countries have different policies on repetition and promotion; in some cases the number of repeaters is controlled because of limited capacity. Care should be taken in interpreting this indicator.
The transition rate from primary school to second- ary school conveys the degree of access or transition between the two levels of education. A low transi- tion rate can signal problems such as an inadequate promotion and examination system or insufficient capacity in secondary schools. The quality of data on the transition rate is affected when new entrants and repeaters are not correctly distinguished in the first grade of secondary school. Students who interrupt their studies for one or more years after complet- ing primary school could also affect the quality of the data.
In 2006 the UNESCO Institiute for Statistics changed its convention for citing the reference year. For more information, see About the data for table 2.10.
• Gross intake rate in grade 1 is the number of new entrants in the first grade of primary education regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the population of the official primary school entrance age. • Share of cohort reaching grade 5 is the per- centage of children enrolled in the first grade of pri- mary school who eventually reach grade 5. The esti- mate is based on the reconstructed cohort method (see About the data). • Repeaters in primary school
are the number of students enrolled in the same grade as in the previous year, as a percentage of all students enrolled in primary school. • Transition to secondary education refers to the number of new entrants to the first grade of secondary school in a given year, as a percentage of the number of stu- dents enrolled in the final grade of primary school in the previous year.
Data sources
Data on education efficiency are from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics. Data for latest years are provisional, as of January 2006.
2.13
Education completion and outcomes
Primary completion rate Youth literacy rate Adult literacy rate% of relevant age group % ages 15–24 % ages 15 and older
Totala Malea Femalea Male Female Male Female
1991 2004 1991 2004 1991 2004 1990 2002 1990 2002 2002 2002 Afghanistan 25 .. 37 .. 13 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Albania .. 99 .. 99 .. 99 97 99b 92 99b 99b 98b Algeria 79 94 86 94 73 94 86 94c 68 86c 79c 60c Angola 35 .. .. .. .. .. .. 83c .. 63c 82c 54c Argentina .. 102 .. 100 .. 105 98 99b 98 99b 97b 97b Armenia 90 107 .. 106 .. 108 100 100b 99 100b 100b 99b Australia .. 100 .. 100 .. 100 .. .. .. .. .. .. Austria .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Azerbaijan .. 96 .. 97 .. 95 .. .. .. .. .. .. Bangladesh 49 73 .. 70 .. 75 51 58 33 41 50 31 Belarus 95 101 95 103 96 99 100 .. 100 .. .. .. Belgium 79 .. 76 .. 82 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Benin 21 49 28 59 13 38 57 58b 25 33b 46b 23b Bolivia 71 100 78 102 64 98 96 99b 89 96b 93b 80b
Bosnia and Herzegovina .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 100c .. 100c 98c 91c
Botswana 79 92 71 89 87 94 79 85 87 93 76 82 Brazil 93 111 .. 110 .. 111 91 96c 93 98c 88c 89c Bulgaria 90 97 89 98 92 96 100 98b 99 98b 99b 98b Burkina Faso 21 29 26 34 16 25 .. .. .. .. .. .. Burundi 46 33 49 39 43 27 58 76c 45 69c 67c 52c Cambodia .. 82 .. 85 .. 78 81 88c 66 79c 85c 64c Cameroon 56 72 60 77 52 66 86 .. 76 .. 77c 60c Canada .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..
Central African Republic 27 .. 35 .. 18 .. 66 70c 39 47c 65c 33c
Chad 18 29 30 41 7 18 58 55c 38 23c 41c 13c
Chile .. 97 .. 98 .. 97 98 99b 98 99b 96b 96b
China 103 99 .. 99 .. 100 97 99b 93 99b 95b 87b
Hong Kong, China 102 111 .. 113 .. 108 .. .. .. .. .. ..
Colombia 71 94 60 92 82 96 94 97c 96 98c 94c 95c
Congo, Dem. Rep. 46 .. 58 .. 34 .. 80 77c 58 61c 80c 52c
Congo, Rep. 54 66 59 70 49 63 95 98 90 97 89 77 Costa Rica 74 92 77 91 81 94 97 98 98 99 96 96 Côte d’Ivoire 43 43 55 52 32 34 65 70c 40 51c 60c 38c Croatia 85 91 .. 92 .. 91 100 100b 100 100b 99b 97b Cuba 96 93 .. 93 .. 92 99 100b 99 100b 100b 100b Czech Republic .. 102 .. 103 .. 101 .. .. .. .. .. .. Denmark 98 103 98 103 98 104 .. .. .. .. .. .. Dominican Republic 61 91 .. 88 .. 93 87 93b 88 95b 87b 87b Ecuador 91 101 91 100 92 101 96 96b 95 96b 92b 90b
Egypt, Arab Rep. .. 93 .. 95 .. 91 71 .. 51 .. .. ..
El Salvador 41 84 38 84 43 85 85 90 83 88 82 77 Eritrea 19 44 22 53 17 36 73 .. 49 .. .. .. Estonia 93 103 93 105 94 101 100 100b 100 100b 100b 100b Ethiopia 21 51 26 58 16 43 52 63 34 52 49 34 Finland 97 102 98 102 97 102 .. .. .. .. .. .. France 104 .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. Gabon 58 66 55 65 61 68 .. .. .. .. .. .. Gambia, The 44 .. 55 .. 33 .. 50 .. 34 .. .. .. Georgia .. 86 .. 84 .. 87 .. .. .. .. .. .. Germany 100 97 99 97 100 97 .. .. .. .. .. .. Ghana 63 65 70 65 55 67 88 .. 75 .. 63b 46b Greece 99 .. 99 .. 98 .. 99 99c 100 100c 94c 88c Guatemala .. 70 .. 75 .. 65 80 86b 66 78b 75b 63b Guinea 17 48 24 58 9 39 62 .. 26 .. .. .. Guinea-Bissau .. 27 .. 35 .. 19 .. .. .. .. .. .. Haiti 27 .. 29 .. 26 .. 56 66 54 67 54 50