Pupil-qualified teacher ratio in pre-primary education (headcount basis) by country
Average number of pupils per qualified teacher at a given level of education, based on headcounts of both pupils and teachers. Divide the total number of pupils enrolled at the specified level of education by the number of qualified teachers at the same level. A qualified teacher is one who has the minimum academic...
What the numbers show
Pupil-qualified teacher ratio in pre-primary education (headcount basis) is currently reported for 35 countries. The highest value is 72.04 headcount basis in Maldives; the lowest is 8.47 headcount basis in Bhutan.
The median across all reporting countries is 18.92 headcount basis, and the mean is 22.26 headcount basis.
The gap between the highest and lowest reporting country is a factor of about 9.
Over the past decade 8 countries rose and 23 fell. The largest increase was in Maldives (up 166.9%), and the largest decrease in Benin (down 62.2%).
Pupil-qualified teacher ratio in pre-primary education: full country ranking
| # | Country | Latest | Year | 10-year change | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Maldives | 72.04 headcount basis | 2019 | up 166.9% | volatile |
| 2 | Rwanda | 45.68 headcount basis | 2019 | down 24.3% | falling |
| 3 | Laos | 43.18 headcount basis | 2018 | — | rising |
| 4 | Belize | 36.16 headcount basis | 2019 | up 51.0% | rising |
| 5 | Cambodia | 33.59 headcount basis | 2019 | up 17.5% | rising |
| 6 | Niger | 33.48 headcount basis | 2019 | up 9.1% | rising |
| 7 | Bahamas | 32.67 headcount basis | 2018 | down 56.0% | volatile |
| 8 | Benin | 31.19 headcount basis | 2019 | down 62.2% | volatile |
| 9 | Albania | 24.02 headcount basis | 2019 | down 15.5% | falling |
| 10 | Madagascar | 22.58 headcount basis | 2019 | down 3.7% | falling |
| 11 | Ecuador | 21.83 headcount basis | 2018 | down 22.8% | falling |
| 12 | Senegal | 21.62 headcount basis | 2019 | down 13.3% | flat |
| 13 | Nepal | 21.15 headcount basis | 2019 | down 27.6% | falling |
| 14 | Dominican Republic | 20.99 headcount basis | 2018 | down 32.4% | falling |
| 15 | Seychelles | 20.86 headcount basis | 2019 | down 16.3% | falling |
| 16 | Oman | 20.28 headcount basis | 2019 | down 21.0% | falling |
| 17 | Cote d'Ivoire | 19.56 headcount basis | 2019 | down 19.0% | falling |
| 18 | Azerbaijan | 18.92 headcount basis | 2019 | up 8.2% | rising |
| 19 | China | 18.34 headcount basis | 2019 | — | falling |
| 20 | Belarus | 17.04 headcount basis | 2018 | — | flat |
| 21 | Saudi Arabia | 16.61 headcount basis | 2019 | up 72.5% | rising |
| 22 | Jordan | 16.45 headcount basis | 2019 | up 0.5% | flat |
| 23 | Malaysia | 16.23 headcount basis | 2019 | down 14.5% | falling |
| 24 | Brunei | 15.2 headcount basis | 2019 | — | falling |
| 25 | Sri Lanka | 15.02 headcount basis | 2018 | down 14.4% | falling |
| 26 | Barbados | 14.78 headcount basis | 2019 | down 13.8% | falling |
| 27 | Macao | 14.11 headcount basis | 2019 | down 14.8% | falling |
| 28 | Qatar | 14.02 headcount basis | 2019 | down 9.1% | flat |
| 29 | Bahrain | 14.01 headcount basis | 2019 | down 4.1% | falling |
| 30 | Andorra | 12.56 headcount basis | 2019 | down 10.8% | falling |
| 31 | Costa Rica | 12.14 headcount basis | 2019 | down 9.1% | falling |
| 32 | Mauritius | 11.94 headcount basis | 2019 | down 13.1% | falling |
| 33 | Serbia | 11.66 headcount basis | 2019 | down 8.2% | falling |
| 34 | Uzbekistan | 10.79 headcount basis | 2019 | up 8.3% | rising |
| 35 | Bhutan | 8.47 headcount basis | 2020 | down 26.7% | falling |
Regions and income groups
Aggregates are excluded from the country ranking above so that a region can never outrank a country.
- Heavily indebted poor countries (HIPC) 43.41 headcount basis
- Sub-Saharan Africa (excluding high income) 42.66 headcount basis
- Sub-Saharan Africa (IDA & IBRD countries) 42.55 headcount basis
- Sub-Saharan Africa 42.55 headcount basis
- Low income 40.41 headcount basis
- Pre-demographic dividend 38.25 headcount basis
- Least developed countries: UN classification 38.19 headcount basis
- IDA only 37.82 headcount basis
- Pacific island small states 36.96 headcount basis
- Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (excluding high income) 25.35 headcount basis
- Middle East, North Africa, Afghanistan & Pakistan (IDA & IBRD) 25.01 headcount basis
- Arab World 24.02 headcount basis
About this data
Average number of pupils per qualified teacher at a given level of education, based on headcounts of both pupils and teachers. Divide the total number of pupils enrolled at the specified level of education by the number of qualified teachers at the same level. A qualified teacher is one who has the minimum academic qualifications necessary to teach at a specific level of education in a given country. This is usually related to the subject(s) they teach. In computing and interpreting this indicator, one should take into account the existence of part-time teaching, school-shifts, multi-grade classes and other practices that may affect the precision and meaningfulness of pupil-teacher ratios. When feasible, the number of part-time teachers is converted to ‘full-time equivalent’ teachers; a double-shift teacher is counted twice, etc. Teachers are defined as persons whose professional activity involves the transmitting of knowledge, attitudes and skills that are stipulated in a formal curriculum programme to students enrolled in a formal educational institution.