Education in Benin

Teacher with students in a classroom in Benin.

Benin has abolished school fees and is carrying out the recommendations of its 2007 Educational Forum.[1] (Its education system used not to be free.[2]) In 2018, the net primary enrollment rate was 97 percent.[3] Gross enrollment rate in secondary education has greatly increased in the last two decades, from 21.8 percent in 2000 to 59 percent in 2016, 67.1 percent in the case of males and 50.7 percent for females.[4] Because of a rapid increase in the enrollment rate, the student/teacher ratio rose from 36:1 in 1990 to 53:1 in 1997 but has dropped again in the last years to 39:1 (2018).[5] In 2018, the gross enrollment ratio in tertiary education was 12.5%.[6]

The overall adult literacy rate is 42.4 percent (2018),[6] significantly lower than in neighbors Togo (63.7%) and Nigeria (62%). Only 31.1% of women in Benin 15 years or older are literate, although this number increases to 51.9% for the 15-24 year olds (69.8% for men).[6]

The Human Rights Measurement Initiative (HRMI)[7] finds that Benin is fulfilling only 77.6% of what it should be fulfilling for the right to education based on the country's level of income.[8] HRMI breaks down the right to education by looking at the rights to both primary education and secondary education. While taking into consideration Benin's income level, the nation is achieving 96.5% of what should be possible based on its resources (income) for primary education but only 58.8% for secondary education.[9]

  1. ^ "Benin | Unesco" | United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  2. ^ "Benin" Archived 2008-09-06 at the Wayback Machine Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor (2001) Bureau of International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor (2002, This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.)
  3. ^ The World Bank. "School enrollment, primary (% net) - Benin".
  4. ^ The World Bank. "School enrollment, secondary (% gross) - Benin".
  5. ^ The World Bank. "Pupil-teacher ratio, primary - Benin".
  6. ^ a b c unesco.org (27 November 2016). "Education and literacy: Benin".
  7. ^ "Human Rights Measurement Initiative – The first global initiative to track the human rights performance of countries". humanrightsmeasurement.org. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  8. ^ "Benin - HRMI Rights Tracker". rightstracker.org. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  9. ^ "Benin - HRMI Rights Tracker". rightstracker.org. Retrieved 2022-03-13.