I. BACKGROUND Most African countries spend a large amount of their gross domestic product (GDP) on military and defense expenditure (Takhal, 2012). However, education is the greatest investment in success in a world that has become progressively more interdependent and interconnected through trade, political and social issues. It would be harmful for Africa to remain solely focused on strengthening its military capacity, while devaluing access to universal primary education (Takhal, 2012). Africa's greatest resource is its youth and they can achieve a lot if they have access to universal primary education supported by secondary and post-secondary education. More than half of the African population is under the age of thirty (Takhal, 2012). In sub-Saharan Africa, 47% of the overall population is under the age of fifteen, with an expected increase among five to fourteen year olds of over 34% over the next twenty years (Takhal, 2012). According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), most countries in sub-Saharan Africa spend ten times more on university students than on primary school students (Takhal, 2012). With this disproportionate allocation of educational expenditures, it is not surprising that there are millions of primary school-age children who are out of school (Watkins, 2013). In 1990, the Conference on Education for All, held in Jomtien, Thailand, committed to achieving universal primary education by 2000 (Henock Kifle, Mohammed Hussain, Hailu Mekonnen, 2002). However, in 1999, approximately 120 million children of primary school age were still out of school, the majority in sub-Saharan Africa (Henock Kifle, Mohammed Hussain, Hailu Mekonnen, 2002). The Mi...... half of the document ......rom Education: a crucial step towards peace in the Central African Republic: http://www.unicef.ca/Henock Kifle, Mohammed Hussain, Hailu Mekonnen. (2002, June). Achieving the Millennium Development Goals in Africa. Retrieved from Global Poverty Report 2002: http://www.cpahq.org/Takhal, A. (2012, March 21). Africa must invest in the primary education sector. Retrieved from Horseed Media: http://horseedmedia.net/UNICEF. (2013, October 18). UNICEF. Retrieved from Central African Republic: 70% of school-age children are not yet in class: http://www.unicef.org/UnitedNations. (2008, September 25). End poverty Millennium Development Goals 2015. Retrieved from United Nations: http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/Watkins, K. (2013, January 16). Too little access, not enough learning: Africa's twin deficits in education. Retrieved from Brookings: http://www.brookings.edu/