aim to seek admission in higher education or foreign institutions generally follow the academic stream. *With the introduction of the Nine Year Schooling (NYS) in January 2017, the old terminology “Standards” and "Form" has henceforth be replaced by “Grade” as shown above. Vocational stream Those who wish to obtain career and technical qualifications, as well as those who fail to complete any stage or obtain any qualification of the academic stream from the Certificate of Primary Education onward, may enter into the vocational stream, which provides technical and vocational training and education (TVET) in life skills and job skills for employment and independent living. The vocational stream offers options outside of the academic stream for students to complete the compulsory stages of education, and to continue their formal education beyond the compulsory years, in vocational programmes of study. Those who successfully complete the Higher National Diploma (HND), a post-secondary qualification, may then progress to the bachelor's degree with advanced standing, and thus re-enter into the academic stream of formal education, with the option to progress onto postgraduate studies in higher education. Statistics The adult literacy rate for both sexes was estimated at 89.8% according to the census made by Statistics Mauritius in 2011. Male literacy was 92.3% and Female 87.3%. For the year 2011, government expenditure on education was estimated at Rs 11,709 million, representing 12.5% of total expenditure. Education sectors Pre-primary education Pre-primary education embraces children between 3 and 5 years old. The number of children in pre-primary schools was 33,901 out of which 51% were boys and 49% girls. The Gross Enrolment Ratio (number of students enrolled per 100 population aged 4–5) works out to 97% with an average of 13 pupils per teacher. The number of pre-primary schools in March 2011 was 1,018, that is 985 in the Island of Mauritius and 33 in Rodrigues. 75% of these schools were privately run institutions, 18% operating on government primary school premises administered by the Early Childhood Care and Education Authority and the remaining 7% were administered by either Roman Catholic or Hindu Education Authorities or Municipal/Village Councils. Primary education As at March 2011, there were 305 primary schools with 116,068 pupils (51% boys, 49% girls). Total staff comprised 8,266 persons with 4,227 General Purpose Teachers and 1,350 Oriental Language teachers. The Gross Enrolment Ratio (number of students enrolled per 100 population aged 6–11) is 100% and the pupil/teacher