According to a Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) report released on Monday, to mark the internationally celebrated Children’s Day, 46.9% of Egyptian children whose age ranges between 4 and 17 years, use mobile phones.
The report adds that 47.9 % of those children are males while 45.9% are females, while 85.1% of them live in urban areas and 41% reside in the countryside. The mobile ownership rate for children aged 15 to 17 years was 80.6%.
The report also states that 24.8% of children aged 4-17 years use computers, with 25.2% of males and 24.3% of females being users, while 37.7% of children in urban areas and 17.9% in countrysides using mobile phones. Highest rates of computer users was 48% among children aged 15-17 years.
CAPMAS revealed that children under 18 years represent 40% of the total Egyptian population (38 million), of which 19.6 million are males, marking 51.7% of total children, while 18.3 million are females marking 48.3%. Moreover, Egyptian children aged up to 4 years make up 34% of the population, while ages 15-17 years make up 14.5%.
Moreover, the rate of Egyptian children aged 4-5 years who are enrolled in nurseries is 28% for males and 27.9% for females. The rate of children aged 6-11 years who are enrolled in elementary schools stands at 91.3% for males and 93.5% for females, while rates of those between 12-14 years old who are enrolled in preparatory education are 80.6% of males and 86.4% of females.
The rate of dropping out of education reached 0.5% of those enrolled in elementary schools, of which 0.5% are males and 0.4% females. Preparatory education drop outs reached 4.1%, according to the total enrollment in 2015/2016 and 2014/2015.
Additionally, CAPMAS stated that the number of married children aged between 10 and 17 years is 118,900 children, of which 93.4% are females.
The number of disabled children’s care homes managed by the Ministry of Social Solidarity reached 170, with 5984 children enrolled in 2016.
The number of kindergartens belonging to the public sector, public works, and public bodies reached 26 in 2016, with a capacity for 3,079 children and 1,962 children enrolled, while the number of nurseries affiliated with the Ministry of Social Solidarity reached 14,272, and 915,654 children attending. The number of nurseries for children deprived of family care is 86 orphanages, with 1,451 children in their care.
