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Table 4b. Primary education Last update: December 2008 Net enrolment ratio in primary education Girls' share of primary enrolment Country Year Girls Boys Year % Afghanistan … … … 2005 35.7 Albania 2004 93 94 2004 48.2 Algeria 2007 95 96 2007 47.2 Andorra 2007   a 80 81 2007 47.2 Angola ... … … 2006 48.4 Anguilla 2006   b 91 92 2006 48.9 Antigua and Barbuda    2007 73 75 2007 48.9 Argentina 2005 98 99 2005 48.8 Armenia 2006 84 80 2006 47.8 Aruba 2007 100 100 2007 48.6 Australia 2006 97 96 2006 48.6 Austria 2006   b 98 97 2006 48.5 Azerbaijan             2007 85 87 2007 47.2 Bahamas     2006 89 87 … … Bahrain 2005 98 98 2005 48.8 Bangladesh             2004   a 90 87 2004 49.6 Barbados 2007 97 96 2007 49.3 Belarus 2006   b 88 90 2006 48.2 Belgium 2006 97 97 2006 48.8 Belize 2007 98 96 2007 49.0 Benin 2006 73 87 2006 44.4 Bermuda ... … … 2006 46.2 Bhutan 2006 79 79 2006 48.9 Bolivia 2006 95 94 2006 49.0 Bosnia and Herzegovina ... … … 2007 46.9 Botswana 2005 85 83 2005 49.3 Brazil 2005 95 93 2005 47.6 British Virgin Islands 2006   b 95 95 2006 48.3 Brunei Darussalam      2007 93 93 2007 47.7 Bulgaria 2006 92 93 … … Burkina Faso 2006 42 52 2006 44.8 Burundi 2006 73 76 2006 47.7 Cambodia 2007 87 91 2007 47.2 Cameroon ... … … 2007 45.9 Canada 2000   b 100 99 2000 48.6 Cape Verde 2007 84 85 2007 48.3 Cayman Islands 2005   a 77 86 2005 48.0 Central African Republic 2007 45 63 2007 41.4 Chad 2003   b 49 71 2003 40.1 Chile ...   … … 2006 48.0 China ...   … … 2006 46.8 China, Hong Kong SAR 2005   a 89 93 2005 47.9 China, Macao SAR 2007   91 94 2007 46.9 Colombia 2007   87 87 2007 48.8 Comoros 2000   a 51 60 2000 46.2 Congo       2006   52 58 … … Cook Islands           2005   a 75 73 2005 48.1 Costa Rica             ...   … … 2007 48.4 Côte d'Ivoire          2003   a 49 61 2003 44.1 Croatia 2006   90 91 2006 48.6 Cuba 2007   98 98 2007 47.9 Cyprus 2006   a 99 99 2006 48.8 Czech Republic         2005   b 94 91 2005 48.4 Democratic Republic of the Congo ...   … … 2003 43.9 Denmark 2006   96 95 2006 48.7 Djibouti 2006   34 42 2006 44.4 Dominica 2006   b 79 75 2006 48.7 Dominican 2007   83 82 2007 47.5 Ecuador 2006   97 96 2006 48.9 Egypt       2007   b 94 98 … … El Salvador 2007   92 92 2007 49.1 Equatorial Guinea 2003   83 91 2003 48.7 Eritrea 2006   43 50 2006 44.4 Estonia 2006   94 95 2006 48.0 Ethiopia 2007   68 74 2007 46.5 Fiji 2007   86 87 2007 47.8 Finland 2006   97 97 2006 48.9 France 2006   99 98 2006 48.5 Gabon 2001   b 88 88 2001 49.4 Gambia 2006   64 59 2006 51.5 Georgia 2007   92 95 2007 47.2 Germany 2006   b 98 98 2006 48.7 Ghana 2007   71 73 2007 48.5 Gibraltar ...   … … 2001 48.0 Greece 2006   99 100 2006 48.6 Grenada     2007   74 78 … … Guatemala 2007   93 97 2007 47.9 Guinea 2007   69 79 2007 45.2 Guinea-Bissau 2001   b 38 53 2000 40.2 Guyana …   … … 2006 49.0 Honduras 2007   97 96 2007 49.0 Hungary 2006   88 89 2006 48.3 Iceland 2006   97 98 2006 48.6 India 2006   87 90 2006 46.6 Indonesia 2006   94 97 2006 48.2 Iran, Islamic Republic 2005   100 91 2004 55.1 Iraq 2005   b 82 95 2004 44.3 Ireland 2006   95 94 2006 48.5 Israel      2006   97 96 … … Italy 2006   98 99 2006 48.3 Jamaica 2005   b 90 90 2005 48.8 Jordan 2006   91 89 2006 49.3 Kazakhstan 2008   90 90 2008 48.8 Kenya 2006   76 75 2006 49.0 Kiribati 1999   b 98 96 2005 49.4 Kuwait 2006   83 84 2006 48.8 Kyrgyzstan 2007   84 85 2007 48.8 Lao People's Democratic Republic 2006   81 86 2006 46.1 Latvia 2005   b 92 89 2005 47.9 Lebanon 2007   82 83 2007 48.3 Lesotho 2006   74 71 2006 49.6 Liberia 2008   30 32 2008 46.9 Liechtenstein 2004   a 89 87 2004 50.7 Lithuania 2006   89 90 2006 48.4 Luxembourg 2006   98 96 2006 48.9 Madagascar 2007   99 98 2007 49.2 Malawi 2007   90 84 2007 50.4 Malaysia 2004   100 100 2005 48.6 Maldives 2006   97 97 2006 47.7 Mali 2007   56 70 2007 44.4 Malta 2005   91 92 2005 48.0 Marshall Islands 2003   b 89 90 2003 47.5 Mauritania 2007   83 78 2007 50.0 Mauritius 2007   96 95 2007 49.2 Mexico 2006   97 98 2006 48.7 Micronesia, Federated States of ...   … … 2007 49.0 Mongolia 2007   90 88 2007 49.4 Montserrat 2004   a 92 96 2004 45.9 Morocco 2007   86 91 2007 46.5 Mozambique 2006   73 79 2006 46.2 Myanmar ...   … … 2006 49.6 Namibia 2007   89 84 2007 49.6 Nauru ...   … … 2006 47.1 Nepal 2007   74 78 2007 48.3 Netherlands            2006   97 99 2006 48.2 Netherlands Antilles   ...   … … 2003 49.2 New Zealand 2006   99 99 2006 48.6 Nicaragua 2006   90 90 2006 48.4 Niger 2006   37 50 2006 41.0 Nigeria 2005   b 58 68 2005 44.9 Niue 1999   a 98 99 … … Norway 2006   98 98 2006 48.8 Occupied Palestinian Territory 2007   73 73 2007 49.0 Oman 2007   74 72 2007 49.1 Pakistan 2006   b 57 73 2006 41.0 Palau 2000   b 94 98 2000 48.1 Panama 2007   98 99 2007 48.3 Papua New Guinea       ...   … … 2006 44.3 Paraguay               2005   95 94 2005 48.4 Peru                   2006   97 96 2006 49.0 Philippines            2006   92 90 2006 48.5 Poland 2006   96 96 2006 48.6 Portugal 2006   98 98 2006 47.6 Qatar 2007 94 94 2007 48.7 Republic of Korea 2001   94 100 2000 47.4 Republic of Moldova 2007   b 82 84 … … Romania                2006 93 93 2006 48.4 Russian Federation     2006 91 91 2006 48.9 Rwanda                 2007 95 92 2007 50.8 Saint Kitts and Nevis 2005   a 96 91 2005 49.8 Saint Lucia            2007 98 99 2007 48.6 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 2007 88 94 2007 48.3 Samoa 2007 88 86 2007 48.0 San Marino             ... … … 2000 48.0 Sao Tome and Principe 2008 97 98 2008 49.0 Senegal 2007 72 72 2007 49.6 Serbia 2007   b 95 95 2007 48.8 Seychelles             2004   a 100 99 2004 49.3 Sierra Leone           ... … … 2007 47.5 Singapore              ... … … 2006 48.1 Slovakia               2005   b 92 92 … … Slovenia               2006 95 96 2006 48.4 Solomon Islands        2005 62 62 2005 46.8 South Africa           2005   b 86 86 2005 48.7 Spain 2006 99 100 2006 48.3 Sri Lanka 2003   b 100 99 2003 49.0 Sudan 2000   b 37 45 2000 45.3 Suriname 2007 95 93 2007 47.9 Swaziland 2005 79 78 2005 48.0 Sweden 2006 95 95 2006 48.7 Switzerland 2006 89 89 2006 48.5 Syrian Arab Republic   2002 92 97 2002 47.8 Tajikistan             2007 95 99 2007 48.2 Thailand              2007 94 94 … … The Former Yugoslav Rep. of Macedonia 2005 92 92 2005 48.3 Timor-Leste 2007 62 64 2007 47.5 Togo                   2007 72 82 2007 46.4 Tokelau                ... … … 2004 57.2 Tonga                  2005 94 97 2005 47.1 Trinidad and Tobago    2005   b 85 85 2005 48.6 Tunisia                2006 97 96 2006 47.7 Turkey                 2006 89 93 2006 47.9 Turks and Caicos Islands 2005   a 81 75 2005 51.1 Tuvalu                 ... … … 2006 47.9 Uganda                 ... … … 2006 49.8 Ukraine                2007   b 89 89 2007 48.7 United Arab Emirates   2007 90 91 2007 48.5 United Kingdom 2006 99 98 2006 48.9 United Republic of Tanzania 2006 97 98 … … United States 2006 93 91 2006 49.0 Uruguay 2006 100 100 2006 48.3 Uzbekistan ... … … 2007 48.5 Vanuatu 2006 87 88 2006 47.8 Venezuela 2007 92 92 2007 48.3 Viet Nam 2001   b 91 96 2001 47.9 Yemen 2005 65 85 2005 41.6 Zambia 2007 94 94 2007 49.0 Zimbabwe 2006 88 87 2006 49.6

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Sources:

Net enrolment ratio in primary education
UNESCO Institute for Statistics, table 5: Enrolment ratios by ISCED level, available from UIS website, http://www.uis.unesco.org (accessed December 2008).

Girls’ share of primary 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 December 2008).

Footnotes:

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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 primary education as programmes that are normally designed on a unit or project basis to give students a sound basic education in reading, writing and mathematics along with an elementary understanding of other subjects such as history, geography, natural science, social science, art and music. The customary or legal age of entrance to this level of education ranges between ages 5 to 7 years, and is the start of compulsory education where it exists. This level covers in principle six years of full-time schooling.

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

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

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