If we took a snapshot of the state of education across the globe, the image would shock many of us. Current estimates place the number of out-of-school children at 93 million. The majority of these children are girls, and almost 80 per cent of them live in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Indeed, quality education remains a distinct dream for many of the world's girl children, even though it is a fundamental human right enshrined in international commitments. From the millennium development goals to the Dakar declaration, countries have repeatedly committed themselves to achieving universal primary education and eliminating gender disparities at all levels of education by 2015.. As long as girls do not have equal access to education, gender equality is but a pipe dream. The gender equality equation is a powerful one. By combining the right to education with rights within education, we can achieve rights through education. Indeed, gender quality is an essential strategy for ending discrimination and achieving justice in societies.

This book narrates the status and trends of girl child education in the context of global economic reforms. It will be an immensely useful reference tool for students, teachers, educational planners, policy makers, educational administrators and research scholars.