The EFA 2000 assessment report indicated that India, Pakistan and Bangladesh harbor the largest number (in absolute terms) of out-of-school children. India, Pakistan and Bangladesh also house the largest number of adult illiterates in the South and West Asia region demonstrating little achievement on the progress towards eradicating adult illiteracy or addressing the gender gap in adult literacy.  

Gender disparity against girls continues to be pronounced in primary education. Teacher training is not a uniform exercise across the region and qualified teachers are lacking particularly in rural areas. Self-sufficiency is a significant issue as most countries in the region are heavily dependent on donor funding to meet expenditure in social development sectors.  

Clearly implementation of the national plans for achieving EFA in the South Asian region requires a clear-cut action plan in planning, designing and executing monitoring mechanisms at the local level.