Fifteen years ago, at the World Education Forum in Dakar, Senegal, 164 countries undersigned “six internationally agreed education goals aimed to meet the learning needs of all children, youth and adults by 2015.”
Since 2002, the UNESCO EFA Global Monitoring Report (EFA GMR) has monitored progress towards achieving these Education for All Goals, as well as the two education-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
In this pivotal year, when the member states of the United Nations will adopt a new sustainable development agenda, the EFA GMR Education for All 2000-2015: Achievements and Challenges assesses the advancements made since 2000 and the challenges that have hindered success. Progress towards the achievement of each goal is evaluated through report cards and the report provides also key insight into how to shape the post-2015 global education agenda.
Overall, the EFA GMR recognizes that great strides have been made since 2000, yet we are far from achieving Education for All. Inequality in education remains, and poverty is a persistent barrier to access and learning. The most disadvantaged children are still the ones most often left behind. The sector remains underfinanced, both by local governments and donors.
In order to ensure renewed progress and success in the next 15 years, EFA GMR points out that new targets must be specific, relevant and measurable as well as focus strongly on equity and the needs of the most marginalized and vulnerable.
For more than a decade, the UNESCO Education for All Global Monitoring Report has played a pivotal role in helping the world to monitor and track progress in achieving the right of every child, girls and boys, to a good quality education. As we head into the final year of the Millennium Development Goals and set the agenda for global education for the years ahead, this report tells us that while progress has been made, our work is far from done. We must - and we can - do better. -Julia Gillard , Chair, Global Partnership for Education
Key Facts and Figures from the 2015 EFA Global Monitoring Report
Half of all countries achieved universal primary enrollment by 2015, and a further 10% came close.
One-third of countries have achieved all the measurable Education for All goals.
The greatest progress is in girls’ education. Almost two-thirds of countries will have reached gender parity in primary education by 2015.
Since 1999, 80 million more children and adolescents are now enrolled in school, 48 million in primary school.
In 2012, 184 million children were enrolled in pre-primary education – an increase by nearly two-thirds since 1999.
There are still 58 million primary-age children not in school, and in low and middle income countries one in six children will not have completed primary school.
The world’s poorest children are four times more likely to be out of primary school than the richest and, if they are enrolled, five times less likely to complete school.
The proportion of out of school children living in conflict-affected countries has grown from 30% in 2000 to 36%.
With regards to learning quality, the number of countries carrying out national learning assessments has doubled since 2000 and student to teacher ratios have declined in over 80% of countries.
The financing gap for basic education after 2015 is US$22 billion per year, equal to almost one-third of the cost of education in low income countries.
Many countries have increased spending on education. Between 1999 and 2012, 38 countries increased their spending by 1 percentage point or more of national income.
Only 17 out of the 73 countries with a literacy rate below 95% in 2000 had halved their illiteracy rate by 2015. The rate of illiteracy dropped slightly, from 18% in 2000 to an estimated 14% in 2015 but there are still about 781 million illiterate adults.
