Education for Girls-UNESCO/UNICEF Report on Children Out of School

Countries made international commitments towards eliminating gender disparities in primary education by 2005. Gender parity in primary education is reflected in the fifth goal of the Dakar Framework for Action 2000, and the third Millennium Development Goal. There are many countries still far from reaching this goal as shown by indicators in this UNESCO Report. In absolute terms, 61.6 million girls are not in school, compared to 53.8 million boys. In other words, girls account for 53% of the world's out of school children. One in five eligible girls does not go to school.

A joint UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS)/UNICEF report presents new estimates on children out of school based on an improved methodology. According to the report, one hundred and fifteen million primary school-age children are out of school.

The report, entitled Children Out of School: Measuring Exclusion from Primary Education, presents new estimates and explores the characteristics of children out of school.

Survey data from 80 countries presents compelling evidence of disparities due to household wealth, place of residence and sex.

Based on survey data, more than three times as many children from the poorest households are out of school compared to those from the richest households – 38% compared to 12%.

The report provides a single UNESCO/UNICEF source for global and regional estimates of out-of-school children based on an improved methodology and the integration of household survey data.

Download the report (PDF - 3.8MB)

Education (UNESCO Portal)

UNESCO Institute for Statistics

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