School participation

Greater participation in secondary education supports the advancement of human capital linked to economic growth, democracy-building, improved health, greater equity across society, and the development of a capable and competitive workforce. However, many youth never reach secondary school in Sub-Saharan Africa, which limits their life opportunities as well as national development trajectories more broadly. This brief quantifies what we can expect in terms of demand for secondary education in the coming decade, with a focus on Sub-Saharan Africa and on lower secondary education.

Over the past decade, as Sub-Saharan Africa saw the expansion of universal primary enrollment policies, gender balance in primary school participation improved considerably, with girls now attending school almost at the same rate as boys. Gains in primary school, however, have not carried over to secondary: for every 100 boys, only 82 girls of secondary school age are enrolled across the region, up from 80 in the year 2000.

Over the past decade, as Sub-Saharan Africa saw the expansion of universal primary enrollment policies, gender balance in primary school participation improved considerably, with girls now attending school almost at the same rate as boys. Gains in primary school, however, have not carried over to secondary: for every 100 boys, only 82 girls of secondary school age are enrolled across the region, up from 80 in the year 2000.

These are presentation slides for the presentation on missing data and out of school children data challenges delivered by Charlie Gale at the panel session “The limits of what we know: Missing data in education and development”