Calculation method: Divide the number of students enrolled who are of the official age group for a given level of education by the population for the same age group and multiply the result by 100.
Data required: Enrolment by single years of age for a given level of education. Population of the age group corresponding to the given level of education.
Data source: School register, school survey or census for data on enrolment by age; population censuses or estimates for school-age population normally obtained from the central statistical office.
Types of disaggregation: By gender, geographical location (region, urban/rural) and by level of education.
Interpretation: A high NER denotes a high degree of coverage for the official school-age population. The theoretical maximum value is 100%. Increasing trends can be considered as reflecting improving coverage at the specified level of education. When the NER is compared with the GER, the difference between the two highlights the incidence of under-aged and over-aged enrolment. If the NER is below 100%, then the complement, i.e. the difference with 100%, provides a measure of the proportion of children not enrolled at the specified level of education. However, since some of these children/youth could be enrolled at other levels of education, this difference should in no way be considered as indicating the percentage of students not enrolled. To measure universal primary education, for example, adjusted primary NER is calculated on the basis of the percentage of children in the official primary school age range who are enrolled in either primary or secondary education. A more precise complementary indicator is the age-specific enrolment ratio (ASER) which shows the participation in education of the population of each particular age, regardless of the level of education.
Quality standards: NER at each level of education should be based on enrolment of the relevant age group in all types of schools and education institutions, including public, private and all other institutions that provide organized educational programs.
Limitations: In primary and secondary education there may be difficulties when calculating an NER that approaches 100% if: (i) The reference date for entry to primary education does not coincide with the birth dates of the entire cohort eligible to enroll at this level of education; (ii) A significant portion of the population starts primary school earlier than the prescribed age and consequently finishes earlier as well; (iii) there is an increase in the entrance age to primary education but the duration remains unchanged. Although the NER cannot exceed 100%, values up to 105% have been obtained reflecting inconsistencies in the enrolment and/or population data.
Age specific enrolment rate (ASER)
Definition: Enrolment of a specific single age, irrespective of the level of education, as a percentage of the population of the same age.
Purpose: To show the extent of the educational participation of a specific age cohort.
Calculation method: Divide the number of students of a specific age enrolled in educational institutions at all levels of education by the population of the same age and multiply the result by 100. This method may also be used separately to calculate ASER by individual levels of education. The calculation is the same, the sole difference being that the enrolment refers only to one level of education, for example primary education.