On the other hand, South and West Asia have made significant progress, with the number of children out-of-school falling from 39 to 13 million between 1990 and 2010.

UNESCO: HIV and AIDS

The climb out of it is steep, but we have made significant progress.

WHITEHOUSE: Press Briefing by Press Secretary Jay Carney,

So we have made significant progress towards achieving the goals that the President laid out, which is disrupt, dismantle, ultimately defeat al Qaeda, and stabilize Afghanistan so that Afghans can take over security of their won country and prevent Afghanistan from becoming a haven for al Qaeda and its adherents in the future.

WHITEHOUSE: Press Briefing

The President has changed that, and we have made significant progress in the last several years in achieving the goals set out by the President, primarily the disruption, dismantlement and, ultimately, the defeat of al Qaeda.

WHITEHOUSE: Press Briefing

If we can get our technical teams to clear out the underbrush, then hopefully, in 2013, there's a foundation to actually make some significant progress on this and a lot of other bilateral issues.

WHITEHOUSE: President Obama Makes a Trilateral Announcement with the Presidents of Russia and Kazakhstan | The White House

But, for the time being at least, there seems to be a realisation that, in spite of the progress made in improving schools over recent years, drastic measures are still needed to root out the significant pockets of under-achievement that remain.

ECONOMIST: Journey up the learning curve