Talk about a “learning crisis”, at least 250 million of the world’s 650 million primary school age children are unable to read, write or do basic mathematics according to an independent report conducted for UNESCO.

“Teachers have the future of this generation in their hands,” UNESCO’s Director-General Irina Bokova said in a statement. “We need 5.2 million teachers to be recruited by 2015, and we need to work harder to support them in providing children with their right to a universal, free and quality education.”

According to the report, half of the children out of school globally are expected to never make it into a classroom.  Half the world’s out-of-school population of 57 million live in conflict-affected areas. It’s difficult to attend school on a regular basis, if you are living in an unstable country.

It’s estimated that 14 countries had more than one million children out of school in 2011 including Afghanistan, China, Congo, Somalia, Sudan before its break-up, and Tanzania.

Based on the MDG goals, every child should have a primary school education by the year 2015.