Total number of students of the official age group for a given level of education who are attending school at any level of education, expressed as a percentage of the corresponding population.
National census and household surveys.
UNESCO Institute for Statistics
Total number of students in the official school age range for the given level of education who are attending school in any level of education expressed as percentage of the population of the same age group for the given level of education.
Data by single year of age from household surveys on school attendance in all levels of education. Ideally, data should also be made available on the date of interview and month of birth to calculate the age at the beginning of the academic year. Population of the official age group for the given level of education.
The total net attendance rate is the complementary to 100% of the corresponding out-of-school rate. Hence, the lower the total net attendance rate, the higher the equivalent rate of out-of-school, and the greater the need to focus on improving access to education. When disaggregated by sex, location, wealth quintiles and other characteristics, this indicator can identify excluded population groups.
Education levels and grades reported in household surveys may not align with the countries ISCED mapping, with implications for comparability. All observations with missing information on age, whether the child is currently attending school, and the current education level attended, are omitted from the calculation of education indicators.
To measure the actual school participation of the official school age population for a given level of education.
The age ranges associated with the education levels are based on the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED), and the education levels and grades used in the calculation of attendance rates should be consistent with each country’s ISCED mapping.
In addition, the data collection period for international household survey programmes may not be aligned with the academic year. This can create distortions in the age data used to calculate education indicators. Education systems generally define the intended or “official” ages for a given level of education based on the age of the child at the beginning of the academic year. In other words, the reference date for ages is the start month of the academic year. By contrast, household surveys may collect data on the educational status and age of children many months after the start of the academic year. The reference date for age information is the date the survey data were collected, which means it varies among households. Considering the gap between the start of the academic year for which attendance data are collected and the date on which the survey was carried out is crucial for accurate calculation of education indicators.
To minimize the associated error, the UIS takes different measures depending on the number of months between the start of the academic reference year and the time of survey data collection: Where information is available on the birth month and year of school-age children, age data are recoded to the age at the start of the academic reference year; If only the age in years is available, and data for the majority of observations were collected 6 or more months after the start of the academic year, one full year is subtracted from the age recorded during data collection (adjusted age = recorded age – 1). For example, if the academic year starts on 1 September and data for the majority of observations were collected in March of the following year or later, the ages will be adjusted; If only the age in years is available, and data for the majority of observations were collected 5 months or less after the start of the academic year, age data are used as recorded. For example, if the academic year starts on 1 September and data for the majority of observations were collected during the period up to February of the following year, the recorded ages are used without adjustment.
Data from household surveys are usually disaggregated by sex, location and household wealth quintile. The location (urban or rural) is defined according to national standards, which may differ across countries. Household wealth quintiles are usually determined with the help of an asset index, calculated from assets owned by individual households.