Education of Disadvantaged Children in OIC:
The Key to Escape from Poverty
36
In 26 OIC countries (out of 57) more than half of the population lives in rural areas. 124 On
average in OIC countries 45.2 percent of the population were still living in rural areas in 2015.
Given the wide regional and income distribution of the countries in the OIC, the share of the
population living in rural areas also has a wide range. In Qatar, where the rural population rate is
lowest, only 0.8 percent of the population lives in rural areas as opposed to Uganda, the country
with the highest rural population rate, where 83.9 percent of the population lives in rural areas.
The location that the child is living turns out to be another disadvantage in the OIC in terms
of access to education. Children living in rural areas are less likely to attend school in a
significant number of member countries. In 18 countries (out of 43) the primary net attendance
gap between children living in rural and urban areas is larger than 10 percentage points and in 9
of them this gap is greater than 20 percentage points in favor of the children living in urban areas
(Se . Rural children are the most disadvantaged in Niger where the gap between urban
and rural is also the highest. In Niger, for every 100 children of primary school age living in rural
areas, only 43 of them attend primary school as opposed to 75 out of every 100 children living in
urban areas.
Children living in rural areas become evenmore disadvantaged when it comes to attending
lower secondary education (Se Panel B). The gap between urban and rural children
is larger for lower secondary education. In 21 countries (out of 43) the gap is larger than 20
percent in favour of children living in urban areas. In the member countries Mauritania, Cote
d’Ivoire, Chad and Mozambique net attendance in lower secondary education is the lowest for
children living in rural areas with less than 1 in every 10 children attending lower secondary
education.
Children are at a disadvantage in terms of quality education in rural areas in a number of
member countries. Children’s achievements in the international reading assessment test PIRLS
2011 is lower if they are living in rural areas in Morocco, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Iran
and Azerbaijan compared to urban areas (See Panel A). For instance, in Iran, 64.7
percent of children in the 4th grade living in rural areas pass the lowest benchmark in PIRLS 2011
as opposed to 82.8 percent of the children living in urban areas.
Similar gaps are observed for a number of countries participating in TIMSS 2011
international mathematics assessment test too (Se anel B). Qatar, Iran and Turkey
are the countries where the gap between 4th grade children’s achievements is wider than 20
percentage points in favour of children living in urban areas. Compared to the rich and poor gap,
the gap in learning outcomes between children living in rural areas and children living in urban
areas is less widespread and generally smaller.
124 Data source is World Bank World Development Indicators.
Location of residence/distance to school