WORLD Policy Analysis Center

Is completing secondary education compulsory?

This map tells us whether countries make finishing secondary education accessible to citizens by making education compulsory through the final year of secondary education.

Guarantees to compulsory education can make clear that government has an obligation to provide education, and support families in prioritizing education for all of their children

Compulsory education can be specified by an age range, a number of years, or a level of education during which children are required to go to school. We have looked at each of these factors, as well as national information on the length of primary education and the standard age of beginning school, in order to create comparable information on the age until which education is compulsory. Note that in some cases, source text uses authoritative language to assert the parents’/guardians/ responsibility to ensure children of a certain age are enrolled or attending school; these cases were categorized as a guarantee to compulsory education.

No compulsory guarantee means that there is no explicit guarantee to compulsory education through the completion of secondary school in the country’s constitution, legislation, or non-legislative policy commitments.

Subject to progressive realization means that the country does not guarantee compulsory education through the completion of secondary school, but has committed to take steps to gradually realize compulsory secondary education over time

Policy guarantee to compulsory refers to guarantees to compulsory education through the completion of secondary school included in policy documents or non-legislative government commitments. While this can be a valuable policy-making approach, non-legislative guarantees to compulsory can be more impermanent and reversable than those enshrined in legislation or constitutions.

Legislative or constitutional guarantee to compulsory means that a guarantee to compulsory education through the completion of secondary school is enshrined in the country’s legislation or constitution.

Countries

Afghanistan - Not compulsory guarantee

Albania - Not compulsory guarantee

Andorra - Not compulsory guarantee

Angola - Not compulsory guarantee

Armenia - Not compulsory guarantee

Australia - Not compulsory guarantee

Austria - Not compulsory guarantee

Bahamas - Not compulsory guarantee

Bahrain - Not compulsory guarantee

Bangladesh - Not compulsory guarantee

Belarus - Not compulsory guarantee

Belize - Not compulsory guarantee

Benin - Not compulsory guarantee

Bhutan - Not compulsory guarantee

Bosnia and Herzegovina - Not compulsory guarantee

Botswana - Not compulsory guarantee

Brunei - Not compulsory guarantee

Burkina Faso - Not compulsory guarantee

Burundi - Not compulsory guarantee

Cambodia - Not compulsory guarantee

Cameroon - Not compulsory guarantee

Canada - Not compulsory guarantee

Chad - Not compulsory guarantee

China - Not compulsory guarantee

Comoros - Not compulsory guarantee

Democratic Republic of the Congo - Not compulsory guarantee

Cote d'Ivoire - Not compulsory guarantee

Croatia - Not compulsory guarantee

Cuba - Not compulsory guarantee

Cyprus - Not compulsory guarantee

Czech Republic - Not compulsory guarantee

Denmark - Not compulsory guarantee

Djibouti - Not compulsory guarantee

El Salvador - Not compulsory guarantee

Equatorial Guinea - Not compulsory guarantee

Eritrea - Not compulsory guarantee

Estonia - Not compulsory guarantee

Ethiopia - Not compulsory guarantee

Finland - Not compulsory guarantee

France - Not compulsory guarantee

Gabon - Not compulsory guarantee

Georgia - Not compulsory guarantee

Ghana - Not compulsory guarantee

Greece - Not compulsory guarantee

Greenland - Not compulsory guarantee

Guinea-Bissau - Not compulsory guarantee

Guyana - Not compulsory guarantee

Haiti - Not compulsory guarantee

Hungary - Not compulsory guarantee

Iceland - Not compulsory guarantee

India - Not compulsory guarantee

Indonesia - Not compulsory guarantee

Iran - Not compulsory guarantee

Iraq - Not compulsory guarantee

Ireland - Not compulsory guarantee

Italy - Not compulsory guarantee

Jamaica - Not compulsory guarantee

Japan - Not compulsory guarantee

Jordan - Not compulsory guarantee

Kiribati - Not compulsory guarantee

Republic of Korea - Not compulsory guarantee

Kuwait - Not compulsory guarantee

Kyrgyzstan - Not compulsory guarantee

Latvia - Not compulsory guarantee

Lebanon - Not compulsory guarantee

Lesotho - Not compulsory guarantee

Liberia - Not compulsory guarantee

Libya - Not compulsory guarantee

Liechtenstein - Not compulsory guarantee

Lithuania - Not compulsory guarantee

Luxembourg - Not compulsory guarantee

Madagascar - Not compulsory guarantee

Malawi - Not compulsory guarantee

Malaysia - Not compulsory guarantee

Maldives - Not compulsory guarantee

Mali - Not compulsory guarantee

Mauritania - Not compulsory guarantee

Mauritius - Not compulsory guarantee

Micronesia, Federated States of - Not compulsory guarantee

Moldova - Not compulsory guarantee

Monaco - Not compulsory guarantee

Montenegro - Not compulsory guarantee

Morocco - Not compulsory guarantee

Nepal - Not compulsory guarantee

New Zealand - Not compulsory guarantee

Niger - Not compulsory guarantee

Nigeria - Not compulsory guarantee

Norway - Not compulsory guarantee

Oman - Not compulsory guarantee

Panama - Not compulsory guarantee

Papua New Guinea - Not compulsory guarantee

Qatar - Not compulsory guarantee

Rwanda - Not compulsory guarantee

Samoa - Not compulsory guarantee

San Marino - Not compulsory guarantee

Saudi Arabia - Not compulsory guarantee

Senegal - Not compulsory guarantee

Serbia - Not compulsory guarantee

Sierra Leone - Not compulsory guarantee

Singapore - Not compulsory guarantee

Slovakia - Not compulsory guarantee

Slovenia - Not compulsory guarantee

Solomon Islands - Not compulsory guarantee

Somalia - Not compulsory guarantee

South Africa - Not compulsory guarantee

South Sudan - Not compulsory guarantee

Spain - Not compulsory guarantee

Sri Lanka - Not compulsory guarantee

St. Lucia - Not compulsory guarantee

Sudan - Not compulsory guarantee

Suriname - Not compulsory guarantee

Eswatini - Not compulsory guarantee

Sweden - Not compulsory guarantee

Tajikistan - Not compulsory guarantee

Tanzania - Not compulsory guarantee

Thailand - Not compulsory guarantee

Timor-Leste - Not compulsory guarantee

Togo - Not compulsory guarantee

Trinidad and Tobago - Not compulsory guarantee

Tuvalu - Not compulsory guarantee

Uganda - Not compulsory guarantee

United Kingdom - Not compulsory guarantee

United States of America - Not compulsory guarantee

Vanuatu - Not compulsory guarantee

Vietnam - Not compulsory guarantee

Yemen - Not compulsory guarantee

Zambia - Not compulsory guarantee

Zimbabwe - Not compulsory guarantee

Cabo Verde - Subject to progressive realization

Colombia - Subject to progressive realization

Mozambique - Subject to progressive realization

Myanmar - Subject to progressive realization

Nicaragua - Subject to progressive realization

Sao Tome and Principe - Subject to progressive realization

Syria - Subject to progressive realization

Fiji - Policy guarantee

Algeria - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Antigua and Barbuda - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Argentina - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Azerbaijan - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Barbados - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Belgium - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Bolivia - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Brazil - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Bulgaria - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Central African Republic - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Chile - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Republic of the Congo - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Costa Rica - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Dominica - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Dominican Republic - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Ecuador - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Egypt - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Germany - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Grenada - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Guatemala - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Honduras - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Israel - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Kazakhstan - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Kenya - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Democratic People's Republic of Korea - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Laos - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

North Macedonia - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Malta - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Marshall Islands - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Mexico - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Mongolia - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Namibia - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Nauru - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

The Netherlands - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Pakistan - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Palau - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Paraguay - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Peru - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

The Philippines - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Poland - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Portugal - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Romania - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Russian Federation - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Seychelles - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

St. Kitts and Nevis - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

St. Vincent and the Grenadines - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Tonga - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Tunisia - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Türkiye - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Turkmenistan - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Ukraine - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

United Arab Emirates - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Uruguay - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Uzbekistan - Legislative or constitutional guarantee

Venezuela - Legislative or constitutional guarantee