The primary enrolment for 2015-2016 stands at 13,173. This indicates a drop of 190 students below the 2014-2015 figure which stood at 13,363. The declining primary enrolment, noticeable since 1995, is reflective of the overall decrease in population. There are currently sixty eight (68) primary institutions of which 57 are public. Eight (8) of these primary schools are in the Grenadines. As stated in the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Population and Housing Census Report 2001 there was a decrease of 2.3% between 1991 and 2001. Further analysis of this trend in the population can be facilitated from the 2012 Census Report.
Primary education continues to receive the largest share of the education recurrent budget with salaries, wages and allowances accounting for approximately 96% of the allocation. The recurrent allocation for primary education in 2015 is $40,893,623.
The primary system continues to receive a sizable proportion of the budgetary allocation as the Ministry of Education strives to improve the quality of education throughout the sector.
The following section of the Statistical Digest provides data regarding student enrolment, student performance, the number of repeaters by institution, dropouts, the number of teachers in each institution and their qualifications as well as the expenditure for this sector. Each of the above categories is further disaggregated by district, institution and gender as appropriate.