Education of Disadvantaged Children in OIC:
The Key to Escape from Poverty
41
Gender parity in access to primary education is a problem mainly for poor children. In a
number of countries poor girls are systematically left behind compared to poor boys in access to
primary education and lower secondary education (See
Panel A and B). Looking at the gender parity index125 for the primary net attendance
rate for poor children and rich children separately shows that for poor children the gender parity
index for the primary net attendance rate is smaller than 0.9 for 14 countries (out of 42), while
for rich children this is the case for only 3 countries. For instance in Niger, the gender parity index
is 0.70 for poor children while it is 0.99 for rich children.
Poor girls are even more disadvantaged compared to poor boys in access to lower secondary
education. Gender parity is a bigger problem in access to secondary education for poor children
(Se
Panel B). In 21 countries (out of 42) the gender parity index for lower secondary net
attendance is lower than 0.9 for poor children. For instance, in Cameroon, for poor children the
gender parity index for lower secondary net attendance is 0.44 while for rich children it is 0.99.
Yet regarding access to lower secondary education, even for rich children gender parity is a
concern for a number of countries. In 12 countries (out of 42) gender parity is smaller than 0.9
for rich children as well, meaning that in a number of member countries for lower secondary
education girls are more likely to be at a disadvantage despite being rich. These countries are
Afghanistan, Indonesia, Mauritania, Yemen, Guinea, Chad, Benin, Mali, Nigeria, Cote d’Ivoire,
Guyana and Burkina Faso.
In a small number of member countries gender parity for poor children is not achieved at
the expense of boys and this is especially the case for lower secondary education. The
gender parity index is higher than 1.1 for poor children in attending primary school for 2 countries
(Sierra Leona and Senegal) and for 6 countries in attending lower secondary education (Gabon,
Tunisia, Bangladesh, Maldives, Uganda and Suriname). This means that in these countries being a
boy instead of being a girl puts children at a disadvantage when they are coming from poor
households. Among children coming from rich households being a boy is almost never a
disadvantage in access to primary education and lower secondary education. Only in Jordan the
gender parity index for rich children is 1.11 in attending primary education and in attending lower
secondary education rich boys are at a disadvantage compared to rich girls in only 3 countries
namely Suriname, Pakistan and Morocco where gender parity index is higher than 1.1.
Disability and special needs
Statistics on disabled children’s access to education is rather scarce and difficult to
compare for OIC countries. Data on the prevalence of disability and the impact of being disabled
on access to education for children is not collected in the same fashion as poverty, location or
125 Gender parity index is calculated by dividing the attendance rate for girls by the attendance rate for boys. Hence the more
disadvantaged the girls are compared to boys the closer the number gets to 0 and the more equal girls’ and boys’ access is the
closer the number gets to 1.