12
• Housing Characteristics and Household Population
Four percent of Afghan children under age 18 are orphaned, meaning that one or both of their parents
are dead Table 2.10. The proportion of orphaned
children increases rapidly with age, rising from 1 among children under age 2 to 10 among children
age 15-17 Figure 2.7. Nine in 10 children under
age 18 live with both of their parents 94. Children age 10-14 whose parents are alive and who
are living with at least one parent are more likely to attend school than those whose parents are deceased
67 versus 55 Table 2.11.
2.9 E
DUCATION
2.9.1 Educational Attainment
Median educational attainment Number of years of schooling completed by half of the population.
Sample: De facto household population age 6 and older
In Afghanistan, 57 of males age 6 and over have ever attended school, almost double the 31 of females
Tables 2.12.1 and 2.12.2. Only 4 of women and 10 of men have completed secondary school or
gone beyond secondary school. The median number of years of schooling completed for women and men is 0.0 and 1.6 years, respectively.
Patterns by background characteristics
Urban residents are much more likely to have completed secondary school than rural residents.
Among women in urban households, 10 have completed secondary school, as compared with 2 of women in rural households. Similarly, 19 of men in urban areas have completed secondary
school, compared with 8 of men in rural areas.
Educational attainment increases with increasing household wealth among both women and men. Thirteen percent of women in the wealthiest households have completed secondary school, as
compared with 1 of women in the poorest households.
Educational attainment varies by province. Urozgan has the lowest level of educational attainment,
with 96 of women and 79 of men having no education. For more details, see Table 2.12.1 and Table 2.12.2.
2.9.2 School Attendance
Net attendance ratio NAR Percentage of the school age population that attends primary or secondary
school. Sample: Children age 7-12 for primary school NAR and children age 13-18 for
secondary school NAR
Gross attendance ratio GAR The total number of primary and secondary school students expressed as a
percentage of the official primary and secondary school age population. Sample: Children age 7-12 for primary school GAR and children age 13-18 for
secondary school GAR
Figure 2.7 Orphanhood by age
1 2
3 6
10 4
2 2-4
5-9 10-14
15-17 0-17
Percentage of children under age 18 with one or both parents dead, by age of child
Age in years
Housing Characteristics and Household Population •
13
Sixty-nine percent of boys and 50 of girls age 7-12 attend primary school Table 2.13. The net
attendance ratio drops in secondary school: only 50 of boys and 25 of girls age 13-18 attend secondary school.
Patterns by background characteristics
Urban children are considerably more likely than rural children to attend both primary and
secondary school Table 2.13.
There are large differences in secondary school attendance by province. Attendance ranges from
16 for boys in Urozgan and 2 for girls in Paktika to 76 for boys and 51 for girls in Panjsher
Table 2.13.
Children in the highest wealth quintile are more likely than those in the lowest quintile to attend
primary school 76 versus 57 Table 2.13.
The net attendance ratio for secondary school increases with increasing wealth among both girls and
boys, from 16 in the lowest quintile to 44 in the highest quintile for girls and from 38 in the
lowest quintile to 64 in the highest quintile for boys Figure 2.8.
Other Measures of School Attendance
The survey also collected data on two other indicators. The gross
attendance ratio GAR, which measures participation at each level
