Critical Issues around the Millennium Development Goals and Education

Overview & Synopsis

At the UN Millennium Assembly in 2000 global leaders committed themselves to eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Seven of these goals were set for achievement in 2015, including the achievement of universal primary education. Only one goal was set for 2005: the achievement of gender parity in primary and secondary education. There was good reasoning behind this. Over 100 million children have never been to school and almost two-thirds of them are girls. This article provides a critical overview of the education and gender MDGs. It also focuses on MDG Task Force reports published by the UN in January 2005. It focuses on the gender and education task forces and critiques the resulting recommendations: (1) Deliver on and increase funding for education; (2) Strengthen accountability measures; (3) Bring rights back into the MDGs; (4) Audit progress towards gender parity and agree to new commitments for achieving it before 2015; (5) Push harder for universal primary completion; (6) Improve the quality of education; and (7) Support education programs for women.