This blog is the second installment of a series highlighting key development trends featuring the World Development Indicators (WDI). Explore the WDI data here.
January 24 is the International Day of Education. Education is not only a human right but also a public good, as well as a public responsibility. At a societal level, education is key for peace and development – a prerequisite for gender equality and breaking the cycle of poverty. At a personal level, education helps people develop critical thinking and allows them to achieve full potential and to make informed decisions. This becomes ever more important with the increasing sophistication of computers and introduction of artificial intelligence. AI has therefore become the theme of this year’s International Day of Education.
The ambition of SDG 4 is to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education. And it all starts with primary school. Globally, 88.2 percent of the relevant age group completed primary education in 2023. This figure has hovered just below the 90 percent mark since 2008 with no real progress made since then.
SDG 4 also focuses on removing any gender disparities in education (SDG target 4.5). While significant progress has been made in closing the gender gap, for example in primary school completion, over the past decades, some regions are still lacking behind.
In 2023, for instance, primary completion stood at approximately 70 percent in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)– the region with the lowest rate of primary education completion. SSA is nevertheless the region that has also made the most dramatic improvements over the past two decades– especially for girls. The female completion rate has increased from 48.5 percent in the year 2000 to 68.5 percent in 2023 – almost catching up to the completion rate of boys (71.3 percent in 2023).
Now, it is no secret that a number of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are affected by conflict and fragility. Of the 48 countries from Sub-Saharan Africa for which there is data on primary education completion rates, 23 were on the World Bank list of Fragile and Conflict-affected Situations (FCS) in 2023. This impacts the average completion rates in all of Sub-Saharan Africa. While progress has been made across the board, primary completion rates remain approximately 10 percentage points lower on average in the FCS-countries. When looking at the gender gap, non-FCS countries have a higher completion rate amongst females than men, while a gap persists among countries affected by fragility and conflict.
These and many other data related to education are available for further exploitation in the World Development Indicators database.
The author gratefully acknowledges financial support from the UK Government through the Data and Evidence for Tackling Extreme Poverty (DEEP) Research Program and the Danish Government through the Donor Funded Staffing Program (DFSP).
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