Data required: Enrolment by single years of age. Population estimates of the corresponding age.
Data source: School register, school survey or census for data on enrolment by age. Population censuses or estimates for single year 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 ASER denotes a high degree of educational participation of the population of the particular age. The theoretical maximum value is 100%. Increasing trends can be considered as reflecting improving participation of the particular age. If the ASER is below 100%, then the complement, i.e. the difference with 100% provides a measure of the proportion of the population of the particular age who are not enrolled.
Quality standards: ASER at each level of education should be based on total enrolment in all types of schools and education institutions, including public, private and all other institutions that provide organized educational programs. The enrolment and population data should refer to the same date. Further, it must be ensured that the enrolment data covers all levels of education to avoid excluding some members of the age cohort.
Limitations: This indicator does not give an indication of the grade or the level of education in which pupils or students are enrolled except when it is calculated by level of education.
Repetition rate by grade (RR)
Definition: Proportion of pupils from a cohort enrolled in a given grade at a given school year who study in the same grade in the following school year.
Purpose: To measure the rate at which pupils from a cohort repeat a grade, and its effect on the internal efficiency of educational systems. In addition, it is one of the key indicators for analyzing and projecting pupil flows from grade to grade within the educational cycle.
Calculation method: Divide the number of repeaters in a given grade in school year t+1 by the number of pupils from the same cohort enrolled in the same grade in the previous school year t.
Data required: Enrolment by grade for school year t and number of repeaters from the same cohort by grade for year t+1.
Data source: School register, school survey or census for data on enrolment and repeaters by grade.
Type of disaggregation: By grade, gender, geographical location (regions, urban/rural) and by type of institution (public/private).