Description

For women who ever attended school, YRSCHL (V107) reports the number of years of education completed at the highest level of schooling achieved (primary, secondary, or higher), as reported in EDUCLVL (V106). See Comparability.

For the woman's total years of education, see EDYRTOTAL (V133).

Comparability

Along with universe differences, YRSCHL (V107) has significant variation in question wording aligning with each country's education system. As this variable reports the number of years of schooling at the level achieved, "4 years" does not mean 4 years total, but 4 years at whichever level of education the respondent achieved. Thus, a code of 4 could indicate 4 years of primary school, a high school degree, or a bachelor's degree, for example. Users should consult the Survey Text tab for exact question wording and surrounding questions.

Most researchers will find the variable EDYRTOTAL, on total years of completed schooling, easier to interpret as well as comparable across countries and surveys.

Comparability - Standard DHS

YRSCHL (V107) is included across all phases of the standard DHS questionnaire. The question wording changes depending on the structure of each country's education system.

Universe