Midwives East Timor Australia

The Facts

• Globally, 570 million children are enrolled in school. The number of children of primary school are who were out of school fell from 103 million in 1999 to 73 million in 2006. In that year, primary school enrollment in developing countries reached 88% on average, up from 83% in 2000
• in sub-Saharan Africa, the net primary school enrollment ratio has only recently reached 71%, even after a significant jump in enrollment that began in 2000. Around 38 million children of primary school age in this region are still out of school.
• In Southern Asia, the enrollment ratio has climbed above 90%, yet more than 18 million children of primary school age are not enrolled.

Where Do We Stand

• In all regions, inequalities in access to education continue to pose major barriers to fully attaining the MDG 2 target of ensuring that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, can complete a full course of primary schooling.
• Projections suggest that without further acceleration, 58 out of 86 countries that have not yet achieved universal primary education will not achieve it by 2015.
• Although aid directed to basic education for low-income countries increased from $1.6 billion in 1999 to $5 billion in 2006, it is still well below the estimated $11 billion in aid required annually to reach universal primary education by 2015.