Chart 1.1 Educational pathways for adolescents, Page 14 At age 10, adolescents may be close to the end of formal primary school if they started on time. In some developing countries, however, many 10-year-olds are just beginning primary school. Some out-of-school 10-year-olds take advantage of non-formal accelerated learning programs and re-enter the formal system in later primary grades or at the beginning of secondary school. Once children reach the age of 15, for those who have never been to school, and for those dropped out prematurely, other non-formal opportunities may be available, including literacy and livelihood programs. Primary school completion and the subsequent transition to either general or technical secondary school can occur almost any time during adolescence. Timing is dependent on the educational systems and the extent of late-entry.

Figure 1.1 Grade 6 completion rates for 20-24-year-old girls, Page 11 Attention to girls’ schooling has intensified among development professionals and researchers. There is strong reinforcement from the international community and major international commitments to girls’ schooling have been made. Paralleling this heightened interest and effort from the international community, there has been a rapid growth in girls’ primary school enrollment rates and a decline in gender gaps at most levels of education. Nonetheless, primary school completion rates for girls are still below 50% in the majority of the poorest countries in Africa, parts of Asia, and the Middle East.

Figure 2.2 School attendance of 15–19-year-old girls, by level, Page 22 As adolescents age, school enrollment rates drop off. This figure shows the percent of older adolescent girls (ages 15–19) currently attending formal primary or secondary school. Girls who remain enrolled are more likely to be found in secondary school than primary school. However, in Haiti, Chad, Rwanda, Tanzania, Mozambique, Ethiopia, Malawi, Kenya, and Uganda, the majority of female students aged 15–19 are still attending primary school. This is due to late ages of entry, repetition of grades, and limited places in secondary schools. Within the formal secondary school system, general secondary school enrollment accounts for roughly 90% of all secondary students, vastly outnumbering technical secondary school enrollment.

Figure 2.3 Secondary school completion rates of girls age 19, sub-Saharan Africa, Page 24 In the poorest countries, secondary school completion among girls is relatively rare. In only 8 of 37 sub-Saharan African countries does the secondary school completion rate exceed 15%. In 19 sub-Saharan countries, the completion rate is below 5%. For both boys and girls, rates of secondary school completion are low.

Figure 2.9 Percent of girls out of school, by age, according to the highest grade completed, Page 32 Out-of-school adolescent girls represent a diversity of experiences with respect to formal schooling. This figure shows the highest grade completed, by age, among out-of-school populations in eight countries. This figure attempts to illustrate the diversity of formal school backgrounds and to highlight existing educational patterns. In Mali and Ethiopia, the overwhelming majority of girls who are out of school have never attended school. In Bangladesh, the overwhelming majority of out-of-school girls have had one to four years of formal school. In Egypt, where primary school extends for only five grades, the majority after age 16 have had five to six years of schooling. Cameroon is an interesting case displaying a wide distribution of educational backgrounds among out-of-school girls. Given the importance of continued learning during adolescence, programs should be designed to suit a range of educational backgrounds, which will vary by context both within and across countries.

Figure 3.1 Average daily hours in household work for rural, unmarried 15–16 year old girls, by sex and enrollment status, Page 37 Girls’ attendance in formal school during adolescence is correlated with delayed sexual initiation, later marriage, later childbearing, lower rates of HIV/AIDS and other reproductive morbidities, fewer hours of domestic and/or labor market work, and greater gender equality. Girls who remain students at ages 15–16 work far fewer hours in the household than those who are no longer, or never were, students. Extending schooling into adolescence is a first step on a pathway toward greater gender equality, not only because of the learning that takes place in school but also because school attendance brings adolescent boys and girls together to spend their time similarly during a critical phase of their transition to adulthood.