Primary School Attendance

The student’s school attendance is a key prerequisite for the effectiveness of any education intervention. This indicator therefore measures the extent to which primary school-aged children from the targeted households attend primary education.

Collect the following data by conducting individual interviews with the parents/guardians of primary school-aged children from the targeted households:

RECOMMENDED SURVEY QUESTIONS (Q) AND POSSIBLE ANSWERS (A)

Q1: Do you have any boys who are currently at an age when they could already attend primary school? If so, how many?

A1:

1) no

2) yes, one boy

3) yes, two boys

4) yes, three boys

5) yes, four boys

Q2: Can you please tell me how many of these boys currently attend primary school?

A2: none / one / two / three / four

Q3: Do you have any girls who are currently at an age when they could already attend primary school? If so, how many?

A3:

1) no

2) yes, one girl

3) yes, two girls

4) yes, three girls

5) yes, four girls

Q4: Can you please tell how many of these girls currently attend primary school?

A4: none / one / two / three / four

To calculate the indicator’s value, divide the total number of primary school-aged children (both boys and girls) that currently attend school by the total number of primary school aged-children the surveyed households have. Multiply the result by 100 to convert it to a percentage.

Disaggregate the data by gender.

1) The attendance rate is prone to seasonal differences (e.g. lower attendance during harvest time). Therefore, do your best to collect baseline and end line data at the same time of year; otherwise, it is likely that they will not be comparable. Additional factors that you should consider include: school holidays, local festivals and celebrations.

2) Consider including additional questions assessing the main reasons why some boys and girls do not attend primary school.