79 Percentage of 16- to 18-year-olds enrolled in school Topic:
Sub-Topic:
Education
Attendance
Definition Percentage of the population from 16 to 18 years old that is enrolled in school
Methodology The number of 16- to 18-year-olds enrolled in school is divided by the total population of 16- to 18-year-olds. It is important that the population in the numerator refers to the same population as that in the denominator (that is, the numerator refers to 16- to 18-year-olds who reside in the municipality and are enrolled in school, and the denominator refers to all 16- to 18-year-olds who reside in the municipality). Thus, the value for this indicator should never exceed 100%. Any deviation from this definition must be clearly noted, as it has crucial implications for the interpretation of the data. Data on school enrollment are usually recorded by the ministry of education or derived from surveys and censuses. If administrative data are not available, household survey data may be used, although household surveys usually measure self-reported attendance rather than enrollment as reported by schools. Among international surveys, Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys and Demographic and Health Surveys (and sometimes also Living Standards Measurement Studies and Core Welfare Indicators Questionnaire Surveys in Africa) provide school attendance data.
Detailed Descriptions
Detailed Descriptions of the Indicators
Benchmarks Green
Yellow
Red
> 80%
60–80%
< 60%
Rationale The benefit of using this indicator is that we know precisely what percent of 16- to 18-year-olds are enrolled in school.
Other organizations or agencies that use this indicator IDB’s Sociómetro uses the percentage of 16- to 18-year-olds attending secondary school. The World Bank uses the percentage of net secondary school enrollment (ratio of children of the official secondary school age who are enrolled in secondary school to the population of the official secondary school age). GCIF uses “percentage of school-aged population enrolled in school.” Global Competitiveness Report (World Economic Forum) uses “net primary education enrollment rate.”
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