Uganda: School enrollment, primary, private (% of total primary)

Key figures

Since 1994 it is up 12.76 percentage points from 6.84% in 1994. The World Bank has no value for 8 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2017, Uganda's school enrollment, primary, private (% of total primary) rose 1.77 percentage points on 2016 (from 17.84% to 19.61%).

Across the 9 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2016), the average change was +0.82 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.17 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.8 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 2.64 percentage points in 1995 and the biggest yearly fall was 1.25 percentage points in 2011. 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 the straight-line trend is upward, about 0.77 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 94% of the movement over 8 observed years.

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

Closest to Uganda in the 2017 ranking

• São Tomé and Principe — 2nd of 2: 1.38%

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 16 values

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

• Angola — 18.15% (2023)
• Benin — 25.78% (2022)
• Botswana — 6.94% (2021)
• Burkina Faso — 28.18% (2024)
• Burundi — 3.07% (2025)
• Cabo Verde — 2.17% (2022)
• Cameroon — 25.34% (2024)
• Central African Republic — 16.73% (2016)
• Chad — 23.62% (2024)

More education data for Uganda

• Primary school starting age (years) — 6 (2025)
• Primary education, duration (years) — 7 (2025)
• Lower secondary school starting age (years) — 13 (2025)
• Secondary education, duration (years) — 6 (2025)
• Primary education, teachers — 207,238 (2017)
• School enrollment, primary (gross), gender parity index (GPI) — 1.03 (2017)
• Primary education, pupils — 8.84 million (2017)
• Pupil-teacher ratio, primary — 42.66 (2017)
• School enrollment, primary (% gross) — 106.17% (2017)
• Primary education, pupils (% female) — 50.28% (2017)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Uganda's school enrollment, primary, private (% of total primary)?

19.61% in 2017, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1994?

It is up 12.76 percentage points from 6.84% in 1994. The highest value was 19.61% in 2017 and the lowest 6.27% in 1997.

Is the latest change in school enrollment, primary, private (% of total primary) unusual for Uganda?

In 2017, Uganda's school enrollment, primary, private (% of total primary) rose 1.77 percentage points on 2016 (from 17.84% to 19.61%). Across the 9 yearly changes before that (1995 to 2016), the average change was +0.82 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 1.17 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.8 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SE.PRM.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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