Education of Disadvantaged Children in OIC:
The Key to Escape from Poverty
38
Figure 11 Learning achievement in reading and mathematics for 4 th grade students, by household
location
A. Learning achievement in reading (primary)
Percentage of children of primary school age taking
part in a reading PIRLS and passing first level of
difficulty
B. Learning achievement in math (primary)
Percentage of children of primary school age
taking part in a TIMSS math test and passing
first level of difficulty
Note: Data is obtained from UNESCO’s WIDE Database
Gender
Girl’s access to primary and lower secondary education is generally close to boys’ access in
the OIC (See Panel A). Large gaps seen in access to education between poor and rich
children or children living in rural and urban areas does not seem to exist between girls and boys,
at least in most of the member countries. Yet in a few countries being a girl turns out to be a more
pressing disadvantage in access to education. The largest gap between boys and girls is observed
in Afghanistanwhere 43.7 percent of girls of primary school age attend primary school as opposed
to 58.7 percent of boys. Afghanistan is also the country where being a girl makes a child the most
disadvantaged in attending lower secondary education compared to being a boy. In the country,
20.3 percent of girls of lower secondary age attend lower secondary education as opposed to 37.4
percent of boys.
Morocco, PIRLS 2011
Oman, PIRLS 2011
United Arab Emirates,…
Indonesia, PIRLS 2011
Kuwait, PIRLS 2011
Iran, I. R., PIRLS 2011
Saudi Arabia, PIRLS 2011
Azerbaijan, PIRLS 2011
0 20 40 60 80 100
% of children
Rural Urban
Yemen, TIMSS 2011
Morocco, TIMSS 2011
Kuwait, TIMSS 2011
Tunisia, TIMSS 2011
Oman, TIMSS 2011
Qatar, TIMSS 2011
Iran, I. R., TIMSS 2011
United Arab Emirates,…
Saudi Arabia, TIMSS 2011
Turkey, TIMSS 2011
Bahrain, TIMSS 2011
Azerbaijan, TIMSS 2011
Kazakhstan, TIMSS 2011
0 20 40 60 80 100
% of children
Rural Urban