Furthermore, government expenditure per student in Latin America remains below the average for the OECD countries. Expenditure on secondary education, for instance, represents 18% of GDP per capita in Latin American countries, compared with 26% in the OECD countries. However, a substantial proportion of financing for education in the region is private (40% in Chile and 35% in Colombia, vs. 16% in OECD countries). Policies to reduce the drop-out and repetition rates in secondary and tertiary education are a priority for a region where a fifth of students do not continue past primary school, compared with only a tenth of students in other emerging regions.