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Primary education in Africa, especially for girls To cope with the growing demand for primary education African countries need to dramatically increase the capacity of their school systems. In 1987, there were 73 million children in school; in 2001, the figure had increased to 106 million. To meet the goal of universal primary education by 2015, nearly 180 million children need to find a place in school. At current trends almost half of countries in the region are unlikely to attain this goal. The quality of education remains a major challenge and repetition and drop-out rates are high. More than one student in ten repeats at least one grade in primary school in more than half of all countries in sub-Saharan Africa. And many studies show that repeaters do not learn from duplication and either keep on repeating or drop out before having acquired basic learning skills. Today nearly 40 million African children are out of school, and the majority of them are girls.

To know more Key documents Selected initiatives UNESCO's role

UNESCO IN AFRICA
	Education strategy
	Programme in education
	Who's who (Headquarters, Field Offices & Institutes)
	Partners
	Networks

REGIONAL INITIATIVES
	Education for All
	African Union/NEPAD
	Forum of African Parliamentarians for Education (FAPED)
	Conference of African Ministers of Education (MINEDAF)

SERVICES / RESOURCES

Legal instruments Facts and figures Speeches Articles Publications Selected websites