Asia has highest number of children out of school: Unesco

The report, based on official 2000 and 2001 education figures for 22 countries in South and East Asia, said that "an estimated 46 million primary school-age children are out of school, and more girls (28 million) than boys (18 million) are excluded from primary education."

With an estimated 104 million children out of school, Asia accounted for 45 percent of the worldwide total, just ahead of sub-Saharan Africa, where 42 percent of children are not enrolled, the report said.

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The South and East Asia region studied stretches from China to East Timor, and from Iran to the Philippines. The zone is home to 3.24 billion people, or more than half the world's total, including more than a billion each in China and India.

Although school enrolments rose "substantially" between 1990 and 2000, the statistics showed that several countries had a high number of primary school dropouts.

"In India, the Lao People's Democratic Republic and Myanmar, only half the children who enter primary school will reach grade five, indicating a dropout rate of 53 percent, 47 percent and 45 percent respectively," with Nepal, Cambodia and Bangladesh close behind, the report said.