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Table 4c. Secondary education
Last update: June 2009
		Net enrolment ratio in secondary education				Girls' share of secondary enrolment
Country or area	Year			Girls	Boys	Year		%
Afghanistan	…			…	…	2005		23.4
Albania	2004		b	72	74	2004		47.9
Algeria	2004		b	68	65	2005	b	50.7
Andorra	2007		a	74	70	2007		49.4
Angola	...			…	…	2002		45.7
Anguilla	2005		b	79	83	2006		51.6
Antigua and Barbuda	...			…	…	2007		51.1
Argentina	2005			82	75	2005		51.9
Armenia	2006			88	84	2006		49.6
Aruba	2007			85	80	2007		50.9
Australia	2006			88	87	2006		47.4
Austria	...			…	…	2006		47.7
Azerbaijan	2006			76	79	2006		47.6
Bahamas	2006			85	83	2006		49.8
Bahrain	2006			96	91	2006		49.7
Bangladesh	2004			42	40	2004		49.6
Barbados	2007			93	88	2007		50.0
Belarus	2006		b	89	87	2007		49.2
Belgium	2006		b	85	89	2006		48.1
Belize	2007			70	64	2007		51.0
Benin	2001		b	11	23	2005	b	35.4
Bermuda	...			…	…	2006		51.5
Bhutan	2006		b	39	38	2006		47.8
Bolivia	2006			70	72	2006		48.1
Bosnia and Herzegovina	...			…	…	2007		49.6
Botswana	2005		b	60	52	2005		50.9
Brazil	2005			83	75	2005		51.6
British Virgin Islands	2005		b	95	82	2006		53.0
Brunei Darussalam	2007			91	87	2007		48.8
Bulgaria	2006			87	89	2006		47.7
Burkina Faso	2007			10	14	2007		41.6
Burundi	…			…	…	2006	b	42.6
Cambodia	2006		b	28	33	2007		44.3
Cameroon	...			…	…	2007	b	43.9
Canada	...			…	…	2004	b	48.1
Cape Verde	2007			65	57	2007		54.2
Cayman Islands	2005		a	92	99	2006		49.0
Chad	2003		b	5	16	2005	b	24.8
Chile	...			…	…	2006		49.6
China	...			…	…	2006		47.7
China, Hong Kong SAR	2007		a	79	78	2007		48.8
China, Macao SAR	2007			79	76	2007		49.2
Colombia	2007			71	64	2007		51.6
Comoros	...			…	…	2005	b	42.5
Congo	...			…	…	2004	b	45.5
Cook Islands	2000		a	68	61	2005		49.2
Costa Rica	2007			67	62	2007		49.8
Côte d'Ivoire	2002		b	14	25	2002	b	35.6
Croatia	2006		b	88	86	2006		49.7
Cuba	2007			87	85	2007		48.7
Cyprus	2006		a	95	93	2006		49.2
Czech Republic	...			…	…	2006		49.1
Democratic Republic of the Congo	...			…	…	2003	b	36.7
Denmark	2006			90	88	2006		49.4
Djibouti	2005		b	17	26	2006		39.8
Dominica	2006		a	85	77	2006		49.7
Dominican Republic	2007			68	55	2007		54.1
Ecuador	2006			58	57	2006		49.5
Egypt	2002		b	78	82	2004	b	47.4
El Salvador	2007			56	53	2007		50.4
Equatorial Guinea	...			…	…	2002	b	36.4
Eritrea	2006			20	30	2006		37.6
Estonia	2006			93	90	2006		49.3
Ethiopia	2006		b	19	29	2007		40.0
Fiji	2006			83	76	2007		51.1
Finland	2006		b	96	96	2006		50.0
France	2006			100	98	2006		48.9
Gabon	...			…	…	2000	b	46.3
Gambia	2006			37	40	2006		47.0
Georgia	2007		b	82	82	2007		48.7
Germany	...			…	…	2006		48.0
Ghana	2007		b	43	47	2007	b	45.8
Gibraltar	...			…	…	2001		49.1
Greece	2006			93	92	2006		47.7
Grenada	2005		b	80	78	2007		49.0
Guatemala	2006		b	37	40	2007		48.0
Guinea	2006			20	35	2006		34.0
Guinea-Bissau	2001		b	6	11	2001	b	35.5
Guyana	…			…	…	2006	b	50.1
Honduras	...			…	…	2007		54.9
Hungary	2006			90	90	2006		48.7
Iceland	2006			91	89	2006		49.5
India	...			…	…	2006		43.2
Indonesia	2006			61	60	2006		49.3
Iran, Islamic Republic	2005			75	79	2007		49.1
Iraq	2005		b	32	45	2005	b	38.9
Ireland	2006			90	85	2006		50.6
Israel	2006			89	88	2006		48.6
Italy	2006			94	93	2006		48.4
Jamaica	2005		b	80	76	2005		50.1
Japan	2006			99	99	2006		48.8
Jordan	2006		b	83	81	2006		49.5
Kazakhstan	2008			85	86	2008		48.4
Kenya	2006		b	42	43	2006		48.1
Kiribati	2005		b	72	65	2005		51.7
Kuwait	2006		b	78	75	2006		49.8
Kyrgyzstan	2007			81	80	2007		49.5
Lao People's Democratic Republic	2006		b	32	38	2006		43.0
Latvia	...			…	…	2006		49.1
Lebanon	2007			77	69	2007		51.9
Lesotho	2006		b	29	19	2006		56.0
Liberia	2000		b	12	22	2000		41.7
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya	...			…	…	2006		52.9
Liechtenstein	2004		a	69	62	2006		45.5
Lithuania	2006			93	92	2006		48.9
Luxembourg	2006			86	82	2006		50.0
Madagascar	2006		b	18	17	2007		48.8
Malawi	2007			23	25	2007		45.2
Malaysia	2005			72	66	2005		51.3
Maldives	2006		b	70	64	2006	b	50.3
Mali	...			…	…	2007		42.2
Malta	2005		b	90	84	2005		48.6
Marshall Islands	2003		b	77	72	2005	b	49.8
Mauritania	2006		b	15	16	2006	b	45.0
Mauritius	2007			77	68	2007	a	50.4
Mexico	2006			70	71	2006		51.3
Micronesia, Federated States of	...			…	…	2005	b	49.3
Monaco	...			…	…	2001		48.4
Mongolia	2007			85	77	2007		51.8
Montserrat	2003		a	100	90	2006		46.3
Morocco	2003		b	32	37	2005		45.1
Mozambique	2006			4	4	2006		41.8
Myanmar	2006			46	46	2006		49.3
Namibia	2006		b	54	44	2007		53.9
Nauru	...			…	…	2006		51.7
Nepal	...			…	…	2006	b	45.5
Netherlands	2006			89	88	2006		48.4
Netherlands Antilles	2003		b	85	77	2003	b	52.1
New Zealand	2002			93	91	2006		49.8
Nicaragua	2006			47	40	2006		52.6
Niger	2006			7	12	2006		38.8
Nigeria	1999		a	96	91	2005		44.6
Niue	...			…	…	2005		48.1
Norway	2006			97	96	2006		48.5
Occupied Palestinian Territory	2007			92	86	2007		50.5
Oman	2007			79	78	2007		47.8
Pakistan	2007			28	37	2007		41.8
Palau	...			…	…	2004	b	50.4
Panama	2006		b	67	61	2007		50.8
Paraguay	2005			59	56	2005		49.9
Peru	2006			72	72	2006		49.8
Philippines	2006			66	55	2006		51.6
Poland	2006			94	93	2006		48.4
Portugal	2006			86	78	2006		51.0
Qatar	2007			92	94	2007		49.5
Republic of Korea	2006			93	99	2006		46.9
Republic of Moldova	2007		b	77	74	2007		49.9
Romania	2006			73	74	2006		49.0
Russian Federation	...			…	…	2006		48.5
Rwanda	...			…	…	2007		47.6
Saint Kitts and Nevis	2005		b	85	87	2005	b	50.7
Saint Lucia	2006		b	84	69	2007		52.5
Saint Vincent a	2005		b	71	57	2005		55.2
Samoa	2004		b	70	62	2005	b	50.7
San Marino	...			…	…	2000		49.3
Sao Tome and Principe	2005			34	31	2008		51.1
Senegal	2006			18	23	2006	b	42.8
Serbia	...			…	…	2007		49.4
Seychelles	2005		a	100	94	2007		50.1
Sierra Leone	2007			19	27	2007		41.0
Singapore	...			…	…	2006		48.3
Slovakia	...			…	…	2006		49.2
Slovenia	2006			91	90	2006		48.7
Solomon Islands	2003		b	25	29	2005		43.5
South Africa	2005		b	75	70	2005		51.4
Spain	2006			96	92	2006		50.1
Sri Lanka	…			…	…	2004	b	49.4
Sudan	...			…	…	2007		47.2
Suriname	2005		b	79	57	2007		56.6
Swaziland	2005			35	29	2005		49.9
Sweden	2006			99	99	2006		48.5
Switzerland	2006			80	84	2006		47.3
Syrian Arab Republic	2007			65	67	2007		48.2
Tajikistan	2007			75	87	2007		45.0
Thailand	2007			81	72	2007		51.1
The Former Yugoslav Rep. of Macedonia	2005			80	82	2005		48.0
Timor-Leste	...			…	…	2005		48.7
Togo	2000		b	14	30	2005	b	33.7
Tokelau	...			…	…	2004	b	45.1
Tonga	2006		b	67	54	2006		48.4
Trinidad and Tobago	2005		b	67	64	2005	b	50.4
Tunisia	2003		b	68	61	2006		51.0
Turkey	2006		b	64	74	2006	b	44.5
Turks and Caicos Islands	2005		b	69	72	2005	b	47.8
Tuvalu	...			…	…	2001		46.2
Uganda	2006		b	15	17	2005	b	44.5
Ukraine	2007		b	85	84	2007		48.7
United Arab Emirates	2006			80	78	2007	b	48.8
United Kingdom	2006			94	90	2006		49.3
United States	2006			89	87	2006		48.6
Uruguay	...			…	…	2006		52.8
Uzbekistan	...			…	…	2007		48.7
Vanuatu	2004		b	35	41	2004		44.7
Venezuela	2007			73	64	2007		51.8
Viet Nam	...			…	…	2006		48.8
Yemen	2005		a	26	48	2005		32.1
Zambia	2007			38	44	2007		46.9
Zimbabwe	2006			36	38	2006		48.1

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Sources:

Net enrolment ratio in secondary education
UNESCO Institute for Statistics, table 5: Enrolment ratios by ISCED level, available from UIS website, http://www.uis.unesco.org (accessed June 2009).

Girls’ share of secondary enrolment
Calculated by the United Nations Statistics Division based on data published by the UNESCO Institute for Statistics in table 5: Enrolment ratios by ISCED level, available from UIS website, http://www.uis.unesco.org (accessed June 2009).

Footnotes:

…	Not available.
a	National estimation.
b	UIS estimation.

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Technical notes:

Statistics on enrolment are compiled by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics (UIS) from data provided by national Governments.

The 1997 International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED 97) defines second-level education as education programmes at ISCED levels 2 and 3. Lower secondary education (ISCED 2) is generally designed to continue the basic programmes of primary level but is typically more subject-focused, requiring more specialized teachers for each subject area. The end of this level often coincides with the end of compulsory education where it exists. In upper secondary education (ISCED 3), the final stage of secondary education in most countries, instruction is often organized even more along subject lines and teachers typically need higher or more subject-specific qualification than ISCED level 2.

The second-level net enrolment ratio (NER) is the number of boys and girls in the theoretical second-level age group that are enrolled in that level, expressed as a percentage of the total population in the corresponding age group. It shows the extent of participation in second-level education of children or youth belonging to the official age group corresponding to second-level education in the given country. A high second-level NER denotes a high degree of participation of secondary school-age children or youth in second-level education. The theoretical maximum value is 100%. If the second-level NER is below 100%, then the complement, i.e. the difference with 100%, provides a measure of the proportion of children or youth of secondary school age not enrolled at that level of education. However, since some of these children or youth could be enrolled at levels of education other than the secondary level, this difference should in no way be considered as indicating the percentage of secondary school-age children not enrolled.

The girls’ share of secondary enrolment refers to the percentage of students enrolled in secondary education who are female. This indicator helps assess gender disparity with regard to participation in secondary education. When the indicator approaches 50% it reflects a good level of gender parity.

While enrolment data offer an easy way of comparing the number of boys and girls enrolled in schools, these statistics do not reflect differences between boys and girls in rates of school attendance or absenteeism, repetition and dropping out.