Female pupils below minimum reading proficiency at end of primary (%). Low GAML threshold

The share of male pupils at the end of primary schooling who are below the minimum proficiency level (MPL) for reading or learning deprived. The MPL in reading at the end of primary is defined by the Global Alliance to Monitor Learning (GAML), measured in standard learning assessments, and reported in the context of the SDG 4.1.1b monitoring. It is “Students independently and fluently read simple, short narrative and expository texts. They locate explicitly-stated information. They interpret and give some explanations about the key ideas in these texts. They provide simple, personal opinions or judgements about the information, events and characters in a text.” (UIS and GAML 2019). In other words, a child “attaining” minimum proficiency has the ability to read and understand a short passage of age-appropriate material, whether a simple story or non-fiction narrative of a few paragraphs. In addition to this nutshell statement, the GAML has also proposed a common terminology to describe classifications in the context of the MPL. This is a critical first step toward linking cross-national and national learning assessments with a common benchmark.

The share of pupils at the end of primary schooling who are below the minimum proficiency level (MPL) for reading or learning deprived. The MPL in reading at the end of primary is defined by the Global Alliance to Monitor Learning (GAML), measured in standard learning assessments, and reported in the context of the SDG 4.1.1b monitoring. It is “Students independently and fluently read simple, short narrative and expository texts. They locate explicitly-stated information. They interpret and give some explanations about the key ideas in these texts. They provide simple, personal opinions or judgements about the information, events and characters in a text.” (UIS and GAML 2019). In other words, a child “attaining” minimum proficiency has the ability to read and understand a short passage of age-appropriate material, whether a simple story or non-fiction narrative of a few paragraphs. In addition to this nutshell statement, the GAML has also proposed a common terminology to describe classifications in the context of the MPL. This is a critical first step toward linking cross-national and national learning assessments with a common benchmark.

The share of female 10-year-olds who cannot read and understand a short passage of age-appropriate material—in other words, those who are below the “minimum proficiency” threshold for reading. This measure is defined as the union of two deprivations: 1) schooling deprivation and 2) learning deprivation. A child is considered schooling-deprived (SD) if he or she is of primary school age and out-of-school. The dimension of learning deprivation (LD) applies only for children in school, and identifies those pupils who are below the minimum proficiency level (MPL) for reading, as defined by the Global Alliance to Monitor Learning (GAML), measured in standard learning assessments, and reported in the context of the SDG 4.1.1b monitoring. This “union approach” to measurement reflects the choice that, as presented in the SDGs, all age 10 children must be both in school and learning. The final learning poverty measure combines the two dimensions in a single indicator using the following formula: LP = SD + [(1-SD) x LD]

The share of male 10-year-olds who cannot read and understand a short passage of age-appropriate material—in other words, those who are below the “minimum proficiency” threshold for reading. This measure is defined as the union of two deprivations: 1) schooling deprivation and 2) learning deprivation. A child is considered schooling-deprived (SD) if he or she is of primary school age and out-of-school. The dimension of learning deprivation (LD) applies only for children in school, and identifies those pupils who are below the minimum proficiency level (MPL) for reading, as defined by the Global Alliance to Monitor Learning (GAML), measured in standard learning assessments, and reported in the context of the SDG 4.1.1b monitoring. This “union approach” to measurement reflects the choice that, as presented in the SDGs, all age 10 children must be both in school and learning. The final learning poverty measure combines the two dimensions in a single indicator using the following formula: LP = SD + [(1-SD) x LD]

The share of 10-year-olds who cannot read and understand a short passage of age-appropriate material—in other words, those who are below the “minimum proficiency” threshold for reading. This measure is defined as the union of two deprivations: 1) schooling deprivation and 2) learning deprivation. A child is considered schooling-deprived (SD) if he or she is of primary school age and out-of-school. The dimension of learning deprivation (LD) applies only for children in school, and identifies those pupils who are below the minimum proficiency level (MPL) for reading, as defined by the Global Alliance to Monitor Learning (GAML), measured in standard learning assessments, and reported in the context of the SDG 4.1.1b monitoring. This “union approach” to measurement reflects the choice that, as presented in the SDGs, all age 10 children must be both in school and learning. The final learning poverty measure combines the two dimensions in a single indicator using the following formula: LP = SD + [(1-SD) x LD]

The share of female children of primary-school age who are out of school or schooling deprived. This dimension is linked to the indicator 4.1.4 from the SDG 4 thematic framework. This element reflects the belief that all primary-age children should be learning in schools of some type, a belief that every country has enshrined in law and that is enshrined in the SDGs. In addition to fulfilling a universal right and serving as a necessary condition for sustained learning, schooling offers many benefits beyond learning. It contributes to children’s health and well-being such as promoting safety, nutrition, and socialization, and facilitating parents' labor market participation and, at the macro level, schooling can help build social cohesion, democracy, and peace. All those complementary functions mean that schooling has value over and above the measured cognitive learning that it leads to, and they justify including schooling deprivation in the concept of learning poverty.