This table shows the educational trend that that occurs in most African countries. It can be observed that less than than half of African children reach secondary school and almost none reach tertiary education. The school life expentancy in some African countries are as follows:
- Niger (2002): 2.9 years
- Democratic Republic of the Congo (1999): 4.4 years
- Mauritius (2002): 11.7 years
- South Africa (2001): 12.4 years
The primary reason why children and young adults leave school is to enter the workforce and help support their families. In other words, poverty. About a quarter of children ages 5-14 are working, and among children ages 10-14, 31% are estimated to be working. In some African countries, such as Burundi, this number reaches 50%. It seems that African youth follow two paths. They either enter the workforce immediately with little to no formal education or receive some formal schooling, up to secondary school, and then enter the workforce. There is clearly a step missing in african youth's progression from education to the workforce, what is missing is a college education or at least vocational school training. Without proper training young people are only able to obtain low-paying non-specialized jobs. This results in low job security as well. In the long run most African countries are finding themselves with a large non-specialized youth workforce with little to no education. Another trend that can be observed in this table is the gender disparity that exists in terms of education. School life expectancy is always higher for males than females.
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