São Tomé and Principe: School enrollment, secondary, private (% of total secondary)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2017, São Tomé and Principe's school enrollment, secondary, private (% of total secondary) rose 3.41 percentage points on 2016 (from 1.31% to 4.72%).

Across the 12 yearly changes before that (2001 to 2016), the average change was +0.33 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.1 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.8 standard deviations above that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 3.41 percentage points in 2017 and the biggest yearly fall was 1.75 percentage points in 2010. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2008 to 2017 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 30% of the movement over 9 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

Closest to São Tomé and Principe in the 2017 ranking

• Bangladesh — 1st of 3: 93.9%
• Mozambique — 2nd of 3: 13.33%

What this measures

Private enrollment refers to pupils or students enrolled in institutions that are not operated by a public authority but controlled and managed, whether for profit or not, by a private body such as a nongovernmental organization, religious body, special interest group, foundation or business enterprise.

Limitations: Religious or private schools, which are not registered with the government or don't follow the common national curriculum, may not be captured.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 17 values

School enrollment, secondary, private (% of total secondary) in nearby economies

• Benin — 20.93% (2022)
• Burkina Faso — 41.21% (2024)
• Burundi — 11.67% (2025)
• Cabo Verde — 6.75% (2022)
• Cameroon — 30.62% (2023)
• Chad — 39.32% (2024)
• Côte d'Ivoire — 63.32% (2024)
• Eritrea — 7.47% (2018)
• Eswatini — 2.03% (2016)

More education data for São Tomé and Principe

• Primary school starting age (years) — 6 (2025)
• Primary education, duration (years) — 6 (2025)
• Lower secondary school starting age (years) — 12 (2025)
• Secondary education, duration (years) — 6 (2025)
• Primary education, pupils — 37,172 (2017)
• School enrollment, primary (% gross) — 110.38% (2017)
• School enrollment, primary, private (% of total primary) — 1.38% (2017)
• School enrollment, primary (gross), gender parity index (GPI) — 0.97 (2017)
• Primary education, pupils (% female)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
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• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is São Tomé and Principe's school enrollment, secondary, private (% of total secondary)?

4.72% in 2017, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1998?

It is up 4.72 percentage points from 0% in 1998. The highest value was 4.72% in 2017 and the lowest 0% in 1998.

Is the latest change in school enrollment, secondary, private (% of total secondary) unusual for São Tomé and Principe?

In 2017, São Tomé and Principe's school enrollment, secondary, private (% of total secondary) rose 3.41 percentage points on 2016 (from 1.31% to 4.72%). Across the 12 yearly changes before that (2001 to 2016), the average change was +0.33 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.1 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 2.8 standard deviations above that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SE.SEC.PRIV.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), uri: https://databrowser.uis.unesco.org/resources, note: The data are obtained through the UIS API. Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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