Primary School Net and Gross Attendance Rates,

There wasn't any significant progress in attendance Primary School Gross Attendance Rate 140 from 2000 to 2004 but it improved substantially 122 118 120 120 Female from 2004 and 2007 in Bangladesh. 100 85 84 85 87 85 86 % 80 Male 60 40 Both 85% of children in primary school age 6-10 20 attend primary school at the appropriate age 0 2000 2004 2007 with 83% for male and 86% for female. Nepal Students over or under the official primary Primary School Net Attendance Rate Nepal Pakistan 100 86 school age range make up 35% of the primary 83 85 Philippines 80 school age population. 59 57 Female 60 54 50 52 55 There is moderate gender disparity in favor of Kazakhstan % 40 Male Kyrgyzstan females in primary school attendance in 20 Both Laos Laos Bangladesh from 2000 to 2007. 0 Mongolia 2000 2004 2007 Mongolia Myanmar Source: Demographic and Health Survey Tajikistan Tajikistan The net attendance ratio (NAR) is the percentage of the official primary school-age population that attends primary school. The gross attendance ratio (GAR) is the total number of students attending primary school - regardless of age - expressed as a percentage of the official primary school-age population. The primary NAR does not capture those students who have completed primary school and advanced to secondary school at an earlier age than the official age. Primary School Net Attendance Rate in Urban and Rural Areas, Bangladesh

Children in rural areas are equally likely to attend Primary School Net Attendance Rate in Urban and Rural Areas

school as children in urban areas. 100 87 82 84 83 83 85 80 In urban areas, 83% of children of primary Female 60 Male school age attend school, compared to % 85% in rural areas. 40 Both The attendance rate is higher for males in 20

urban areas whereas it is higher for 0 females in rural areas. Urban Rural Source: Demographic and Health Survey 2007 Primary School Net Attendance Rate by Region, Bangladesh There are moderate regional disparities in primary school attendance in Bangladesh. Primary net attendance is highest in the Khulna region (89%); attendance is lowest in the region (83%). In all regions, more than four-fifths of children attend schools at the appropriate age.

Gender disparity is lowest in the region and highest in the Rajshahi region.

Primary School Net Attendance Rate % Female Male 100 91 87 90 89 87 84 84 83 84 82 82 82 80

60

40

20

0 Barisal Chittagong Dhaka Khulna Rajshahi Sylhet

Source: Demographic and Health Survey 2007 Secondary School Net and Gross Attendance Rates, Bangladesh The attendance in secondary school in Bangladesh increased by 10 percentage points in 7 years from 2000 to 2007 with gross rate at 59% and net rate at 41% by 2007.

Secondary School Gross Attendance Rate 41% of youth in secondary school age 80 62 59 11-15 attend secondary school at the 60 56 Female 50 49 50 48 45 Male appropriate age with 37% for males and 42 Both 45% for females. % 40 Gross attendance rateBarisalSecondaryBangladeshFemale 20 Gross attendance rateBarisalRuralPrimaryBangladeshBoth Students over or under the official Gross attendance rateBarisalRuralSecondaryBangladeshBoth secondary school age range make up 0 Gross attendance rateBarisalUrbanPrimaryBangladeshBoth 2000 2004 2007 Gross attendance rateBarisalUrbanSecondaryBangladeshBoth 19% of the secondary school age Gross attendance rateBattambang & Krong PailinPre-SchoolCambodiaBoth Gross attendance rateBattambang & Krong PailinPre-SchoolCambodiaFemale population. Secondary School Net Attendance Rate Gross attendance rateBattambang & Krong PailinPre-SchoolCambodiaMale 100 Gross attendance rateBattambang & Krong PailinPrimaryCambodiaBoth Gross attendance rateBattambang & Krong PailinPrimaryCambodiaFemale Females have had higher secondary 80 Gross attendance rateBattambang & Krong PailinPrimaryCambodiaMale Female Gross attendance rateBattambang & Krong PailinSecondaryCambodiaBoth school attendance rates than males in 60 Gross attendance rateBattambang & Krong PailinSecondaryCambodiaFemale 45 41 Male % 37 Gross attendance rateBattambang & Krong PailinSecondaryCambodiaMale Bangladesh since 2000 with more 40 31 32 Both 26 29 24 28 pronounced gender disparity by 2007. 20

0 2000 2004 2007 Source: Demographic and Health Survey Secondary School Net Attendance Rate in Urban and Rural Areas, Bangladesh

There are slightly more youth attending secondary school in urban than in rural areas.

Secondary School Net Attendance Rate in Urban and Rural Areas In urban areas, 45% of children of 100 secondary school age attend school, 80 Female compared to 40% in rural areas. 60 48 45 44 Male % 42 40 40 35 Both

Females are more likely to attend school 20

than males in both urban and rural areas. 0 Urban Rural Source: Demographic and Health Survey 2007 Secondary School Net Attendance Rate by Region, Bangladesh Secondary net attendance is highest in the Khulna region (48%); attendance is lowest in the Sylhet region (29%). Gender disparity is highest in the Sylhet region and lowest in the Rajshahi region.

Secondary School Net Attendance Rate Female Male 100 90 80 70 60 53 49 49 % 50 44 44 40 42 42 40 36 36 31 30 23 20 10 0 Barisal Chittagong Dhaka Khulna Rajshahi Sylhet

Source: Demographic and Health Survey 2007 School Attendance by Age and Sex, Bangladesh

Female Male 100 For females, the highest 90 attendance rate is at age 8 (93%) 80 and for males at age 9 (90%). 70 60 % 50 40 Beyond those ages, school 30 20 attendance rate gradually 10 declines for both genders to 0 upper 40% by age 15. 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Age Source: Demographic and Health Survey 2004

Over-Age, Under-Age, and On-Time Students in Primary School, Bangladesh Only about 11% of primary school students are in the appropriate GRADE for their age; the on-time proportion declines in the higher grades.

About 88% of the male primary school 14 Over-age On-time Under-age students and 86% of the female students 100% are over-age by grade. 80% About 2% of the male primary school 60% students and 3% of the female students 15

40% are under-age by grade.

20% In this country, a significant portion of children enter primary school at an older 0% F M F M F M F M F M age than the official age.

Grade 1 Grade 2 Grade 3 Grade 4 Grade 5

Source: Demographic and Health Survey 2004

The Implications of Over-Age/Under-Age Students For the system: Both late entry into primary school and grade repetition can cause children to be over-age for their grade. Early entry in primary school can be a cause of underage attendance. In the classroom: Large numbers of over-age and/or under-age students present a challenge for teachers who must teach a more diverse group with differing levels of maturity and school preparedness. Educational Attainment, Bangladesh Men are better educated than women across older age groups with a closing gender gap among younger age groups. 20 90% of men and 92% of women who are 15-19 years old have attended school. Among the population aged 20-24 years old, 21% of men and 16% of women have completed secondary or higher. Men and women combined, the cohort that entered school 15 years ago (20-24 year olds) is more likely 21 to have completed secondary school or higher than the age cohort that entered school 25 years ago (30- 34 year olds).

Female Male

Post-secondary Secondary completed Secondary Incomplete Post-secondary Secondary completed Secondary Incomplete Gross attendance rateDelhiSecondaryIndiaFemale Gross attendance rateDelhiSecondaryIndiaMale Primary completed Primary incomplete No Schooling Primary completed Primary incomplete No Schooling Gross attendance rateDelhiRuralPrimaryIndiaBoth Gross attendance rateDelhiRuralSecondaryIndiaBoth 8 15 9 59 2 7 15-19 9 2 46 11 21 10 Gross attendance rateDelhiUrbanPrimaryIndiaBoth Gross attendance rateDelhiUrbanSecondaryIndiaBoth 15 19 9 41 4 12 20-24 18 3 33 12 19 14 Gross attendance rateDhakaPrimaryBangladeshBoth 29 22 8 27 4 11 25-29 17 5 24 12 21 21 Gross attendance rateDhakaPrimaryBangladeshFemale Gross attendance rateDhakaPrimaryBangladeshMale 42 22 8 18 3 7 30-34 18 4 21 8 17 32 Gross attendance rateDhakaSecondaryBangladeshBoth 47 21 7 17 2 6 35-39 15 4 22 7 18 34 Gross attendance rateDhakaSecondaryBangladeshFemale Gross attendance rateDhakaSecondaryBangladeshMale 53 23 7 12 2 3 40-44 13 4 19 9 16 39 Gross attendance rateDhakaRuralPrimaryBangladeshBoth 58 19 6 12 2 2 45-49 12 4 19 8 18 38 Gross attendance rateDhakaRuralSecondaryBangladeshBoth Gross attendance rateDhakaUrbanPrimaryBangladeshBoth 68 15 7 7 2 2 50-54 12 5 17 9 17 41 Gross attendance rateDhakaUrbanSecondaryBangladeshBoth 68 17 7 6 11 55-59 18 6 16 5 16 39

73 18 5 4 0 60-64 7 5 12 6 18 51

82 12 4 20 65+ 5 3 15 8 20 49

100 80 60 40 20 0 0 20 40 60 80 100

% % Source: Demographic and Health Survey 2007 Female Literacy Rates, Bangladesh Female Literacy Rate (age 15-24) Urban Rural

24 Can read 28 Cannot read 76 72

Source: Demographic and Health Survey 2007 76% of women age 15-24 in urban areas can read, compared to 72% in rural areas.

Female Literacy Rate by Age Literacy Rate of Women 15-24 Years Old by Grade Completed

15-49 53 Prim G7 #N/A

Prim G6 #N/A

15-19 78 Prim G5 79

20-24 70 Prim G4 65 25-29 58 Prim G3 42 30-34 46 Prim G2 30 35-39 42 Prim G1 #N/A 40-44 35

45-49 31 No schooling 5

0 20 40 60 80 100 0 20 40 60 80 100 % % Source: Demographic and Health Survey 2007 Source: Demographic and Health Survey 2007

The percentage of women who can read is 31% among women age 45-49 and 78% among women age 15-19. 79% of women who completed grade 5 can read and literacy rate increases with level of education completed.