The Progress of Nations 2000

DATA BRIEFS: PROGRESS AND DISPARITY

City to

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countryside:
006_40 -A long way 30
30
to o in 20
O 20 -schooling
The gap between the number of children attending primary school in ur- -10
ban areas and those in rural areas is
large and proving hard to bridge, according to surveys in 54 countries
conducted between 1990 and 1999. Note: Th
In 34 countries (see graph) there is at attendan
least a 10 percentage point urban/ Sources:
rural gap.
The urban/rural divide is greatest
in Eritrea, where 79% of children in found in
urban areas attend school, while Eritrea a
only 24% attend in the country- of 40 or
side- a 55 percentage point differ- Girls i
ence. In 24 countries the gaps are disadva
20 percentage points or more. them no
Urban and rural disparities above but the
30 or more percentage points were more s,

49

Telling gaps in attendance
Disparities in primary school attendance
Urban/rural
EMale/female

38
I1I3

34 33 33

30 30 30
26 28 27 26 26 2423
18
14 14
il i i

22 22 22 22 21 21
17 20 20 19 18 17 17 16 15 15
13 14 13 1 3 112 1
91 1 1 3 l 0 2 10

I

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eoy0 GO Je o, oab ~.,. "' ' o 0. o o o O QJ po.",o -Q,.o.p d'
' ' o
e bars on the chart represent the percentage point difference between urban and rural school attendance and between male and female school
ce. Bars below zero on the chart represent greater female school attendance than male school attendance.
DHS, MICS and other national surveys, 1992-1999.

10 countries. Burkina Faso,
md Niger showed disparities
more percentage points.
in rural areas are at a double

fewer schools, longer distances from
home to school and stronger cultural constraints, as well as deeper
poverty and discrimination.

level or live in rural areas, benefit
boys as well- sometimes even more
than girls.
To date, the most successful methods of reducing the attendance gap
between city and countryside have
also been those designed to increase
girls' attendance.

ntage. Not only are many of Research shows, however, that eft in school, as in urban areas, forts to get and keep girls in school,
y must also contend with regardless of whether they work, are
evere challenges such as over age for the appropriate grade

Out of school: The orphan's dilemma

Studies in 20 countries, most of them
in Africa, confirm what has long been
suspected: Children whose parents
have died are less likely to attend
school than those who have not lost a

parent and who are living with at least
one parent.
Benin, the Central African Republic and Mozambique have the greatest gaps in school attendance between

Who is in school?
Percentage of orphaned and unorphaned children (aged 10-14) in school

childtren who are orphaned and those
who are not. In Benin, for example,
only 17% of children whose parents
have (dlied attend school, compared
to 50%ii of those with both parents
still living. In most of the countries
surveyed, the average difference is
19 percentage points. Only Chad
and Mali have gaps of less than 10
percentage points.
Many children have both parents
alive and well but are still denied
their right to education. In Mali and
Niger, for example, rates of school
attendlance for children with both
parents alive are 29%, and 28%,
respectively the lowest in these
surveys and lower than the rates of
attendance for orphaned children in
many countries.
These figures challenge countries
to ensure that the great loss children
suffer when parents (die does not
compromise children's right to an

education. Countries that have managed to narrow the attendance gap
have valuable lessons to share.

Both parents alive, child lives with at least one parent 0 Both parents deceased
Note: Countries are shown in decreasing order of disparity between children whose parent(s)
are living and orphaned children.
Sources: DHS, UNICEF, 1994-1999.

Rwandan orphans tackle (a school
assignment. Orphans hav e less
access to services such as health,
and education than do children
with one or both parents liring.

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