East Africa
What East Africa’s school completion indicators actually measure
Tanzania’s gross intake ratio reached 89.31% in the final grade of primary and 35.95% in the final grade of lower secondary in 2023. The UNESCO indicators count entry into each final grade and compare it with a separate age-group population.
Sources checked
Primary education
Shared scale · 0% to 89.31%
Lower secondary education
Shared scale · 0% to 89.31%
Switch between education levels. Both measures use a shared scale and the same three countries.
Each ratio uses a different age group
Primary and lower-secondary programmes end at different ages. Each denominator is the population at the official entry age for that level's last grade. Subtracting the two ratios gives a difference between aggregate indicators. A cohort study is needed to measure the share of pupils who progress from one level to the next. Source 2 Source 4
The 2023 comparison covers three economies with both measures
In 2023 Ethiopia recorded 55.06% at primary level and 21.44% at lower secondary. Rwanda recorded 59.30% and 32.33%. Tanzania had the highest point estimates of the three. The table preserves other countries and years separately. Source 1 Source 3
An intake ratio can go above 100
Kenya's 2023 lower-secondary figure was 101.23%. The numerator includes new entrants to the final grade at any age. The denominator includes only children of its official entry age. Out-of-age entrants can take the ratio above 100. Source 3 Source 4
Look for a matched year
The table gives Rwanda and Tanzania both measures in 2024. Kenya's primary series ends in 2016 in the extract. A comparison using the latest available figures would mix years. The figure uses 2023 and includes only countries with a reported pair. Source 1 Source 3