The number of children out of school worldwide has fallen by one-quarter to 72 million from 1999 to 2005 but much more work needs to be done to meet a UN goal of education for all by 2015, a report said on Thursday.
The report by the UN cultural and education agency UNESCO said good progress had been made toward meeting the education element of the Millennium Development Goals, a set of global pledges made in 2000 aimed at ending extreme poverty.
Primary school enrolment rose by 36 percent in sub-Saharan Africa and by 22 percent in South and West Asia from 1999 to 2005, spurred by the abolition of primary school tuition fees in 14 countries and other measures to promote attendance.
Worldwide, the number of out-of-school children fell from 96 million to 72 million in the period, UNESCO said. The proportion of children enrolled in school rose from 83 percent to 87 percent globally.
Public spending on education rose more than 5 percent annually in sub-Saharan Africa and South and West Asia, the regions with the most work to do to achieve the goals. "We are steering the right course but as education systems expand, they face more complex and more specific challenges," said Koichiro Matsuura, director general of UNESCO.
Key challenges are to reach the most vulnerable and disadvantaged, to improve the quality of education as well as just boosting attendance, and increasing aid from rich states.