September 17 (SeeNews) - North Macedonia's human capital index (HCI) value edged up to 0.56 from 0.54 in the period between 2010 and 2020, remaining lower than the average for Europe & Central Asia region and upper middle-income countries, World Bank said.
North Macedonia's HCI value means that a child born in North Macedonia today will be 56% as productive when she grows up if she enjoyed quality education and health care, the World Bank said in a statement on Wednesday following the issue of its HCI data update report.
"North Macedonia has made significant efforts since 2010 to improve education and health outcomes, but still faces challenges. To improve its human capital, the country should invest more in quality and equity of the education," said Massimiliano Paolucci, World Bank country manager for North Macedonia.
North Macedonia's students get quality of learning equivalent to 7.3 years after they complete 11 years of pre-primary, primary and secondary school by age 18. In terms of health, some 99 out of 100 children born in North Macedonia survive to age 5, the report shows.
The World Bank’s HCI looks at a child's trajectory, from birth to age 18, on such critical metrics as child survival (birth to age 5); expected years of primary and secondary education adjusted for quality; child stunting; and adult survival rates.
HCI 2020, based on data up to March of this year, provides a crucial pre-pandemic baseline that can help inform health and education policies and investments for the post-pandemic recovery.