Patterns of Enrolment by Grade and Sex

Insights into enrolments by sex allow comparisons of the ratio of boys to girls with Gross Enrolment Rates by grade. The general point to note is that in all cases except South Africa the percentage of girls enrolled falls as the grade level increases. However, in these countries differences in enrolments between girls and boys are relatively small below Grade 6, and in most cases girls are more than 45% of total enrolments up to Grade 9. This means that well over 90% of girls and boys have the same enrolment status which for the majority is being enrolled. Only in Ethiopia does the pattern show girls being less than 45% of total enrolments at higher grade levels. In South Africa, as is the case in other Southern African countries not included in this analysis, there are more girls than boys enrolled, especially at the higher grade levels.

By contrast to these small differences by grade by sex, it is clear that Gross Enrolment Rates in all the countries fall rapidly by grade. Each country has its own distinct pattern. The largest differences in the proportion of girls enrolled tend to be where GERs are lowest, as in Ethiopia. Other data from household surveys (Lewin and Sabates, 2011) make it very clear that poverty is the strongest correlate of exclusion from higher grades.

Gross Enrolment Rates and % Girls by Grade and Year in Sub Saharan Africa

Analysis of data across 44 countries in Sub Saharan Africa confirms the tendency for sex differences in enrolment to be linked to overall enrolment rates (Lewin (2007). The charts below show that at both primary and secondary level in Sub Saharan Africa the Gender Parity Index is correlated with GERs in ways that indicate higher GERs are more likely to result in less difference in enrolment between boys and girls. This may suggest that interventions to support girls education must encourage increases in overall enrolment rates, especially at higher grade levels. Those countries with the greatest disparities in favour of boys in enrolments are all low enrolment rate countries.

Gender Parity Index by Gross Enrolment Rate Primary in Sub Saharan Africa

Gender Parity Index by Gross Enrolment Rate Secondary in Sub Saharan Africa