Attendance data based on household surveys shows that the number of children of primary school age who are out of school has declined markedly in recent years, from 115 million in 2002 to 93 million in 2005–2006. This is substantial progress, and many countries are close to delivering universal primary education. Yet, in other countries and regions the task remains enormous, as for example in sub-Saharan Africa, where around 41 million primary-school-age children are out of school, and in South Asia, where 31.5 million remain out of school.