Indicator 4.2.2 Participation rate in organized learning (one year before the official primary entry age), by sex

Indicator 4.2.2: Participation rate in organized learning (one year before the official primary entry age), by sex

Target 4.2: By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education

UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)

Definition:

The participation rate in organized learning (one year before the official primary entry age), by sex is defined as the percentage of children in the given age range who participate in one or more organized learning programme, including programmes which offer a combination of education and care. Participation in early childhood and in primary education are both included. The age range will vary by country depending on the official age of entry to primary education.

Concepts:

An organized learning programme is one which consists of a coherent set or sequence of educational activities designed with the intention of achieving pre-determined learning outcomes or the accomplishment of a specific set of educational tasks. Early childhood and primary education programmes are examples of organized learning programmes.

Early childhood and primary education are defined in the 2011 revision of the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED 2011). Early childhood education is typically designed with a holistic approach to support children’s early cognitive, physical, social and emotional development and to introduce young children to organized instruction outside the family context. Primary education offers learning and educational activities designed to provide students with fundamental skills in reading, writing and mathematics and establish a solid foundation for learning and understanding core areas of knowledge and personal development. It focuses on learning at a basic level of complexity with little, if any, specialisation.

The official primary entry age is the age at which children are obliged to start primary education according to national legislation or policies. Where more than one age is specified, for example, in different parts of a country, the most common official entry age (i.e. the age at which most children in the country are expected to start primary) is used for the calculation of this indicator at the global level.

Percent (%)

Administrative data from schools and other centres of organized learning or from household surveys on enrolment by single year of age in early learning programmes; population censuses and surveys for population estimates by single year of age (if using administrative data on enrolment); administrative data from ministries of education on the official entrance age to primary education.

Ministries of Education and/or National Statistical Offices.

Participation in learning programmes in the early years is not full time for many children, meaning that exposure to learning environments outside of the home will vary in intensity. The indicator measures the percentage of children who are exposed to organized learning but not the intensity of the programme, which limits the ability to draw conclusions on the extent to which this target is being achieved. More work is needed to ensure that the definition of learning programmes is consistent across various surveys and defined in a manner that is easily understood by survey respondents, ideally with complementary information collected on the amount of time children spend in learning programmes.

The number of children in the relevant age group who participate in an organized learning programme is expressed as a percentage of the total population in the same age range. The indicator can be calculated both from administrative data and from household surveys. If the former, the number of enrolments in organized learning programmes are reported by schools and the population in the age group one year below the official primary entry age is derived from population estimates. For the calculation of this indicator at the global level, population estimates from the UN Population Division are used. If derived from household surveys, both enrolments and population are collected at the same time.

${PROL}_{0t1,\mathrm{\ }AG\left(a-1\right)=\mathrm{\ }}\frac{E_{0t1,\mathrm{\ }AG(a-1)}}{{SAP}_{AG(a-1)}}$

where:

PROL_0t1,AG(a-1) = participation rate in organized learning one year before the official entry age a to primary education

E_0t1,AG(a-1) = enrolment in early childhood or primary education (ISCED levels 0 and 1) aged one year below the official entry age a to primary education

SAP_AG(a-1) = school-age population aged one year below the official entry age a to primary education

2024-07-29

UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)

1.4, 4.5