85 Globally, the proportion of primary-school-age children who attend school is 85 percent.
Millennium
Development Goal 2 : Achieve universal primary education
Target : Ensure that by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling.
Educating children helps reduce poverty. It is education that will provide the next generation with the tools to fight poverty and conquer disease. Educating a girl dramatically reduces the chance that her child will die before age five, and improves her prospects of being able to support herself and have a say in her own welfare and in society.
Universal education might seem a relatively straightforward goal, but it has proved as difficult as any to achieve. However, the good news is that 85 per cent of primary-school-age children are attending school globally.
For countries nearing universal primary education, reaching the last few per cent of children out of school may be a particular challenge, requiring different strategies as well as concerted effort and investment.
