UN: 57 million children were out of school in 2011

The UN education and cultural agency UNESCO says 57 million children did not attend school in 2011.

The release of the new figures is timed to coincide with a speech at the UN headquarters by the Pakistani girl, Malala Yousafzai.

The report says the number of children out of school decreased by only 3 million from 2008. This indicates the difficulty in achieving the UN goal to have every child attend school by 2015.

About half of all out-of-school children live in countries affected by conflict. 44 percent of them are in Sub-Saharan region in Africa, 19 percent in South and West Asia, and 14 percent in Arab countries.

The report says girls account for 55 percent of those who don’t attend primary school. It adds that in many cases they are unable to go to school due to violence linked to local conflicts.