UNESCO Institute for Statistics indicator ETOIP.2T3.PR.M reports the male percentage associated with enrolment in private secondary institutions. The verified 2024 extract contains 77 national observations, all from the same year and all expressed in percent. The distribution is unusually concentrated around the middle: the median is 50.55% and the mean is 50.72%.
The middle half of reported values lies between 48.40% and 52.19%, and 60 of the 77 observations fall between 45% and 55%. The main pattern is therefore a tight central cluster with a relatively small number of countries and areas extending much farther from 50%. The maximum is Israel at 68.98%, while the minimum is Barbados at 38.10%.
Table of Contents
What a value near 50% means
The series is a percentage, not a student count. A value close to 50% means that the male share represented by this private-secondary enrolment measure is close to half. Values above 50% indicate a higher male share and values below 50% a lower male share. It should not be confused with the separate question of what percentage of all secondary students attend private institutions; UIS publishes a different series for the overall private-institution share.
A value close to 50% should also not be treated as proof of gender equality in access to secondary education. Overall male and female enrolment populations can differ, and public-school participation, school-age population, geography and admissions structures are not contained in this file. This indicator describes one composition within private secondary enrolment rather than the entire education system.
Most reported values sit in a narrow band
Of the 77 reported rows, 60 are between 45% and 55%, and 48 are in the even tighter 47%–53% band. Only 5 observations fall below 45%, while 12 exceed 55%. Just 3 reach 60% or more. Those counts show why the interquartile range is more informative than the full minimum-to-maximum spread for describing a typical observation.
The mean of 50.72% is slightly higher than the median because the upper tail contains several unusually high values. Only 1 observation is below 40%, whereas three reach at least 60%. The asymmetry is modest across most of the distribution but becomes obvious at the top.
The upper tail contains a few clear exceptions
Israel has the highest reported value at 68.98%. Azerbaijan follows at 66.18%, then Uzbekistan at 62.68%. Egypt records 58.30% and Jordan 57.86%. The gap between the maximum and the median is about 18.42 percentage points, making the leading observation much more exceptional than the many values crowded around 50%.
| Rank | Economy | Male percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Israel | 68.98% |
| 2 | Azerbaijan | 66.18% |
| 3 | Uzbekistan | 62.68% |
| 4 | Egypt | 58.30% |
| 5 | Jordan | 57.86% |
| 6 | China | 56.74% |
| 7 | Chad | 56.57% |
| 8 | South Sudan | 56.49% |
| 9 | Georgia | 56.37% |
| 10 | Serbia | 56.29% |
A high percentage is not a score for education quality, achievement or equity. It only describes the male share within the definition of this UIS series. Institutional classification, the size of the private sector, total male and female enrolment and national education structures can differ substantially. The file does not contain enough contextual variables to explain why any country has a high or low value.
The lower end remains relatively close to the center
Barbados is the lowest reported observation at 38.10%, followed by Belarus at 42.09%, Austria at 42.29%, Luxembourg at 44.11% and Bulgaria at 44.87%. Apart from the lowest case, most of the lower tail remains in the low-to-mid 40s.
| Rank | Economy | Male percentage |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Barbados | 38.10% |
| 2 | Belarus | 42.09% |
| 3 | Austria | 42.29% |
| 4 | Luxembourg | 44.11% |
| 5 | Bulgaria | 44.87% |
| 6 | Seychelles | 45.24% |
| 7 | New Zealand | 45.40% |
| 8 | Germany | 45.57% |
| 9 | Honduras | 45.75% |
| 10 | Burkina Faso | 45.80% |
A lower value does not establish that boys have worse access to education. The denominator and scope are specific to private secondary enrolment, while overall participation in secondary education requires separate male and female enrolment indicators. Interpreting these percentages as broad educational disadvantage would go beyond the evidence in the source data.
The map covers reported values, not every country
Joining the UNESCO country codes to a low-resolution world boundary layer produces polygons for 66 of the 77 reported rows, a match rate of about 85.7%. Several small states and territories—including Andorra, Bahrain, Barbados, Cook Islands, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Macao, Monaco, Mauritius and Seychelles—do not appear as separate polygons in the base map. Their official data remain in every statistical calculation and table.
The map is useful for seeing broad geographic variation, but white or unfilled countries must not be interpreted as 0%. The UIS metadata distinguishes reported observations from catalogue units that have no value in this extract. Missing coverage is preserved as missing throughout the analysis.
Seventy-seven reported observations are not a global census
Every row in this extract uses the same 2024 reference year, indicator code and percent unit, which makes the reported countries directly comparable on the published measure. Coverage, however, is limited to 77 national observations. The dataset does not support claims about the exact global average or a complete world ranking because many countries and territories are not reported in this extract.
Large countries such as the United States, Canada, Japan, India and the United Kingdom are among the catalogue units absent from these 77 rows. Adding them as zeros would create false low values and change every summary statistic. A missing country means no reported observation in this extract, not zero male enrolment.
Percentages and student counts answer different questions
The highest percentage does not imply the largest number of male students in private secondary institutions. A large education system with a value near 50% can contain far more students than a small system with a value above 60%. This file contains national percentages rather than the underlying enrolment counts, so absolute scale cannot be reconstructed from the percentage alone.
A count-based analysis would require the total number of students enrolled in private secondary institutions and the corresponding male count. Percentages are useful for comparing composition across systems of different sizes, but the trade-off is that they remove information about absolute numbers.
Distance from 50% is often more useful than exact rank
Because so many observations cluster around 50%, small rank differences can exaggerate differences that are numerically tiny. A country at 49.7% and another at 50.6% may be separated by many ranking positions while both remain very close to an even composition. Broad bands such as 45%–55% are therefore more useful than exact ordering when the goal is to identify unusual gender composition.
The same logic makes the few observations above 60% stand out. They are not simply several ranks above the median; they are much farther from the central cluster in percentage-point terms. Looking at distance from 50% provides a clearer structural view of this particular dataset.
Country examples should be read within the full distribution
Republic of Korea reports 50.96% in 2024, close to the overall median of 50.55%. That places the observation inside the dense central group. It does not establish the overall private-school share, the size of private enrolment or a broader gender gap in secondary education; those require companion indicators.
What the indicator cannot establish
- It does not provide the absolute number of male students in private secondary institutions.
- It is not the same as the percentage of all secondary students enrolled in private institutions.
- It cannot explain country differences through policy, income, school finance or cultural factors on its own.
- A single 2024 cross-section cannot show whether the percentage is rising or falling.
- Countries absent from the 77 reported rows must remain missing rather than being filled with zero.
Source and calculation
The source is UNESCO Institute for Statistics Data API indicator ETOIP.2T3.PR.M, reported in percent for 2024. UIS definitions related to private educational institutions are available in the UIS glossary. This article calculates the mean, median, quartiles, ranges and rankings directly from the 77 reported observations without imputing missing countries.
The map is an original visualization created by joining source country codes to a low-resolution Natural Earth boundary layer. It matches 66/77 reported rows; small states without a matching polygon remain in the tables and distribution calculations.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does a value near 50% mean?
It means the male percentage reported for this private-secondary enrolment measure is close to half. It is not the overall share of secondary students attending private institutions.
Should countries missing from the 77 rows be treated as zero?
No. The dataset contains 77 reported 2024 observations. Countries without a reported row must remain missing rather than being zero-filled.
Does a higher male percentage indicate better education outcomes?
No. The indicator describes enrolment composition and does not directly measure learning, access, quality or efficiency.
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