Are the Dakar Education for All goals slipping away?
In 2000, 164 countries committed themselves to achieve six Education for All goals by 2015 to improve learning opportunities for children, youth and adults. Extraordinary progress has been made, but a renewed commitment and increased resources are urgently needed. UNESCO’s 2009 Education for All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report warns that the comprehensive vision of the Dakar agenda is in danger of being lost. The number of children starting primary school has increased sharply since 2000, there are more girls in school than ever before and spending on education and aid has risen. Primary school net enrolment rates in sub-Saharan Africa increased from 56 to 70 per cent between 1999 and 2006. In 2006, some 513 million students worldwide, and 58 per cent of the relevant school-age population, were enrolled in secondary school, an increase of nearly 76 million since 1999. In 2006, of the 176 countries with data, only 59 had achieved gender parity in both primary and secondary education but
