Catalina Espinosa
Research expert covering society, economy, and politics for Europe and the EU
Primary and secondary education in the Asia-Pacific region - statistics & facts
With more than 560 million children in the compulsory school age group, the Asia-Pacific region is home to a highly diverse primary and secondary education sector. This diversity is reflected in numerous aspects, such as varying durations of compulsory education, diverging pupil-to-teacher ratios, and a disparity in enrollment and completion rates.
As a result of these various learning environments across the APAC region, the over twenty associated countries fare both above as well as below average in international and worldwide comparisons. One example for this is adult illiteracy, an important indicator for understanding how solid and successful a region's educational infrastructure is – South Asia ranks second worldwide in adult illiteracy, while East Asia and the Pacific are the region with the second lowest illiteracy rate among people aged 15 years and older.
