Education Sector Plan: Education for All: Embracing Change, Securing Finale | Page 24

Education for All: Embracing Change, Securing the Future
Figure 4: Number and distribution of education and training institutions by level, status, and
island, 2013–2014
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Public
Private
St. Kitts
22
Public
Private
Public
Nevis
Private
Federal
Pre-Primary Primary
Secondary Special Education
Pre-Secondary/Non-Tertiary Tertiary
Source: GoSKN, 2014c.
2.2. Access and participation
This section presents enrolment data for ECD through the tertiary level and describes the internal efficiency of
compulsory education. 12 Equity in access and participation is taken up at the end of the section.
Early childhood education
Although this level of schooling is not compulsory, the GoSKN has taken great effort to improve access and participation
to high-quality early childhood education, given its contribution to improving learning outcomes later in life, especially
for the vulnerable. Efforts to increase access have included expanding existing centres and establishing new ones,
implementing the Reaching the Unreached programme for home-based nursery providers, and ensuring that public
centres can be accessed by persons with physical disabilities (GoSKN, 2013a).
As of 2013, net enrolment for the 0-2 age group across the Federation stood at 40% (46% in St. Kitts (SK) and 26% in
Nevis (N)), with more boys than girls enrolled (GPI: 0.88). The significant difference in enrolment at this level between
the islands is likely attributed to the fact that there are no public nurseries in Nevis, so services at this level are only
available in private centres at a cost to families. For families living in or vulnerable to poverty on the island, this reality
puts them at a disadvantage, which presents an equity issue for access and participation at this level (Clarke, 2014).
For the 3–4 age group, net enrolment was 85% (84% SK, 89% N), with almost the same number of males and females
participating (GPI: 0.98). Importantly, with an age-specific enrolment rate (ASER) of 100%, all five-year-olds access
either ECD or Kindergarten, which is the compulsory age for schooling (see Table 2).
Primary and secondary education
The ability to provide access for 100% of the five-year-old population is an accomplishment of the private ECD sector
and the Ministry of Education. However, according to the Education Act 2005, this age group should be catered for
in the primary cycle. Given a gross intake rate (GIR) of 78% for males and 83% for females at this level, there is an
indication that many five year olds are remaining in ECD, rather than commencing Kindergarten. This points to the
need to ensure that the Ministry monitors more closely compliance with legislation on age of entry to the primary
cycle (see Table 3).
12. Data are drawn from reconstructed population estimates and EMIS data from 2008, 2009, 2012, and 2013, as complete datasets were
only available for these years. 2014-2015 and 2015-2016 data are being collected in the first quarter of 2017. The actual population by
age is not available from the 2011 census.