for the organization of the Baccalaureat solely by the Baccalaureat Service of the Abdou Moumouni University. The purpose is to improve the conditions for the organization of the baccalauréat, an indispensable stage in gaining access to higher education. It is a public administrative institution with financial and management autonomy under the oversight responsibility of the Ministry of Higher Education. Its missions include: preparing and organizing the baccalauréat examinations in collaboration with the universities and Ministries of Secondary and Vocational Education and Training; reassessing the modalities for the conduct of the baccalauréat examinations and proposing the necessary adjustments and undertaking research works and studies on the baccalauréat examinations. 503. Regarding the private education sector, it is regulated by Order No. 99-035 of 19 June 1996, establishing the regulation of Private Education in Niger and its implementing Decree No. 96210/PCSN/MEN of 19 June 1996. This Order provides for grants from the Government to private schools. 504. School fees in private institutions and institutes are not uniform and are often determined without considering the purchasing power of the population. This can be explained by the liberalization of school fees and the mentality of some parents of pupils who are not in favour of the reduction in school fees. But due to the ever-increasing school fees, reflections are on-going at the Ministries of Education and Training to ensure that school fees are within reach by amending Order No. 0132/MEN/MFPE/DEPE/DEPRI of 7 October 1997, on the liberalization of these fees. Strengthen the legislative, administrative and other measures to resolve the issue of disparities in school attendance by girls and boys, especially in the rural areas. 505. In order to resolve the issue of disparities in school attendance by girls and boys in the rural communities in particular, several actions have been taken. But in spite of these tremendous efforts deployed by the government on this issue, the disparity between boys and girls is obvious. However, significant progress has been made in this respect in the light of two indicators, particularly the gross enrolment ratios (GER) and the Primary School Completion Rate (PCR). The GER of girls increased from 64.7% in 2013 to 72.1% in 2017-2018. On the other hand, the PCR of girls increased from 44.3% in 2013 to 72.9% in 2017-2018. These are very encouraging achievements for the country. 506. These rates have continued to improve since the adoption on 5 December 2017 of the Decree establishing the support, protection and assistance to the girl child still attending school and its implementing Decree signed on 4 February 2019. This is a decisive step taken in Niger and which will enable the implementation of other measures for school attendance by the girl child. 507. The government has made provision in 2020 to open community housing centres in the rural communities to promote the maintenance of girls in schools within the rural communities. A national education and training strategy for girls is nearing finalization. XIV. RIGHT TO PROTECTION AND SOCIAL SECURITY Strengthen the social security system to ensure adequate social protection for all segments of the population. 508. The achievements in this domain include the following:  The establishment of an Interministerial Social Protection Coordination Committee (CICPS) and a Technical Committee of Stakeholders Involved in the Implementation of the National Social Protection Policy (CT/ PNPS). Niger has initiated the review and evaluation process of the PNPS; 100