DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS
Gross intake ratio (GIR) in the first grade of primary
Definition: Total number of new entrants in the first grade of primary education, regardless of age, expressed as a percentage of the population at the official primary school-entrance age.
Purpose: To indicate the general level of access to primary education. It also indicates the capacity of the education system to provide access to grade 1 for the official school-entrance age population.
Calculation method: Divide the number of new entrants in grade 1, irrespective of age, by the population of official school-entrance age, and multiply the result by 100.
Data required: New entrants in the first grade of primary education (or enrolment minus repeaters in the first grade); population of the official primary school-entrance age.
Data source: School enrolment registry in the first grade. Population census or estimates for primary school-entrance age population.
Type of disaggregation: By gender and by geographical location (region, rural/urban).
Interpretation: A high GIR indicates a high degree of access to primary education. As this calculation includes all new entrants to first grade (regardless of age), the ratio can exceed 100%, due to over-aged and under-aged children entering primary school for the first time.
Quality standards: Data on population used in deriving this indicator should refer strictly to the official school entrance age. Care should be taken not to include repeaters in grade 1 in the calculation, since this will lead to an inflated GIR.
Limitations: A high GIR may be the effect of a backlog of over-aged children who have not entered school when they were at the official primary school-entrance age.
Net intake rate (NIR) in the first grade of primary
Definition: New entrants in the first grade of primary education that are of the official primary school-entrance age, expressed as a percentage of the population of the same age.
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Purpose: To precisely measure access to primary education by the eligible population of primary school-entrance age.
Calculation method: Divide the number of children of official primary school-entrance age who enter the first grade of primary education for the first time by the population of the same age, and multiply the result by 100.
Data required: New entrants in first grade of primary education by single years of age; population of official primary school-entrance age.
Data source: School enrolment register for the first grade; population census or estimates for school-entrance age population.