G LO B A L E D U C AT I O N M O N I TO R I N G R E P O R T 2 0 1 6
le Development G
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4.1
S
SUMMARY
Primary and
secondary education
TARGET 4.1
T
arget 4.1 envisages universal primary and secondary completion as a path to relevant and effective learning.
Progress towards this target will be seen as a key measure of government and international community
commitment to the SDGs. Critics of the target believe a push towards universal upper secondary completion distracts
from the priority of at least nine years of basic education for all.
ACCESS, PARTICIPATION AND COMPLETION
Access needs to be monitored closely in the new agenda. While the agenda aims to achieve 12 years of education
for the current cohort by 2030, it should not be forgotten that 25 million children do not even begin primary school.
Almost 30% of children from the poorest households in low income countries have never been to school.
Target 4.1 deals with participation in primary, lower secondary and, for the first time, upper secondary education.
In 2014, 91% of children of primary school age, 84% of adolescents of lower secondary age and 63% of youth of upper
secondary age were in school. These estimates indicate a total of 263 million were not in school: 61 million of primary
school age, 60 million of lower secondary age and 142 million of upper secondary age.
F I GURE 8:
In just 2 out of 90 low and middle income countries have the poorest young people attained at least 12 years of education
Years of education attained among 20- to 24-year-olds, by wealth, selected countries, 2008 and 2014
15
Years of education
12
9
6
Richest
Average
Poorest
3
Niger
South Sudan
Burkina Faso
Afghanistan
Mali
Chad
Burundi
Ethiopia
Madagascar
Senegal
C. A. R.
Rwanda
Mozambique
Sudan
Guinea
Sierra Leone
Benin
Côte d’Ivoire
Bhutan
U. R. Tanzania
Mauritania
Pakistan
Morocco
S. Tome/Principe
Gambia
Liberia
Iraq
Bangladesh
Malawi
Yemen
Uganda
Guatemala
Togo
Cameroon
Cambodia
Lao PDR
Lesotho
Nigeria
Nepal
Timor-Leste
Comoros
D. R. Congo
Haiti
Honduras
Belize
Zambia
Congo
India
Swaziland
Gabon
Suriname
Namibia
Kenya
Guyana
China
Colombia
Maldives
Ghana
Costa Rica
Indonesia
Uruguay
Philippines
Tajikistan
Viet Nam
Albania
Zimbabwe
Bolivia
Mexico
Dominican Rep.
Tunisia
Peru
Egypt
Mongolia
Panama
Jamaica
Ecuador
Armenia
Argentina
Rep. Moldova
Barbados
Kyrgyzstan
Bosnia/Herzeg.
Jordan
TFYR Macedonia
Palestine
Belarus
Serbia
Montenegro
Kazakhstan
Ukraine
0
Source: GEM Report team analysis using household surveys.
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