SUMMARY G LO B A L E D U C AT I O N M O N I TO R I N G R E P O R T 2 0 1 6 This Report is an independent publication commissioned by UNESCO on behalf of the international community. It is the product of a collaborative effort involving members of the Report team and many other people, agencies, institutions and governments. The designations employed and the presentation of the material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The Global Education Monitoring Report team is responsible for the choice and the presentation of the facts contained in this report and for the opinions expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit the Organization. Overall responsibility for the views and opinions expressed in the Report is taken by its Director. The Global Education Monitoring Report team Director: Aaron Benavot Manos Antoninis, Madeleine Barry, Nicole Bella, Nihan Köseleci Blanchy, Marcos Delprato, Glen Hertelendy, Catherine Jere, Priyadarshani Joshi, Katarzyna Kubacka, Leila Loupis, Kassiani Lythrangomitis, Alasdair McWilliam, Anissa Mechtar, Branwen Millar, Claudine Mukizwa, Yuki Murakami, Taya Louise Owens, Judith Randrianatoavina, Kate Redman, Maria Rojnov, Anna Ewa Ruszkiewicz, Will Smith, Emily Subden, Rosa Vidarte and Asma Zubairi. The Global Education Monitoring Report is an independent annual publication. The GEM Report is funded by a group of governments, multilateral agencies and private foundations and facilitated and supported by UNESCO. For more information, please contact: Global Education Monitoring Report team c/o UNESCO, 7, place de Fontenoy 75352 Paris 07 SP, France Email: gemreport@unesco.org Tel.: +33 1 45 68 07 41 www.unesco.org/gemreport https://gemreportunesco.wordpress.com Any errors or omissions found subsequent to printing will be corrected in the online version at www.unesco.org/gemreport © UNESCO, 2016 All rights reserved First edition Published in 2016 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization 7, Place de Fontenoy, 75352 Paris 07 SP, France Typeset by UNESCO Graphic design by FHI 360 Layout by FHI 360 Comic book illustrations by Toby Morris ED-2016/WS/33 Rev 4 New Global Education Monitoring Report series 2016 Education for people and planet: Creating sustainable futures for all EFA Global Monitoring Report series 2015 Education for All 2000-2015: Achievements and challenges 2013/4 Teaching and learning: Achieving quality for all 2012 Youth and skills: Putting education to work 2011 The hidden crisis: Armed conflict and education 2010 Reaching the marginalized 2009 Overcoming inequality: Why governance matters 2008 Education for All by 2015: Will we make it? 2007 Strong foundations: Early childhood care and education 2006 Literacy for life 2005 Education for All: The quality imperative 2003/4 Gender and Education for All: The leap to equality 2002 Education for All: Is the world on track? Cover and back cover photos: Fadil Aziz/Alcibbum Photography The cover photos are of school children from the Palau Papan Island in the archipelago of Togean in Sulawesi, Indonesia. The children, from the Bajo tribe, live in stilt houses and cross a bridge spanning 1.8 kilometres to the neighbouring island of Melange to go to school every day.