2 million The number of children of primary school age not in school in 2005
Millennium
Development Goal 2:Achieve universal primary education
Target: Ensure that all boys and girls complete a full course of primary education
Progress has been made in reducing the number of children out of school. Still, the number is unacceptably high. Based on enrolment data, about 2 million children of primary school age were not in school in 2005; 57 per cent of them were girls. As high as this number seems, surveys show that it underestimates the actual number of children who, though enrolled, are not attending school.
Source: UN DESA,The Millennium Development Goals Report 2007, New York, June 2007.