Considerable progress has been made in achieving universal access to primary and secondary schooling across racial and ethnic lines.

UNESCO: II Part Analytic Section

In July, Mr Mulkerrin said Education was moving in the right direction, after implementing 22 of his 49 recommendations regarding secondary schooling.

BBC: Denis Mulkerrin

In Syria, for example, unemployment among young men with intermediate education (those who started, but did not complete secondary schooling) is 39%.

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Up to his final days, he stayed active on behalf of choice in primary and secondary schooling in the U.S. as a means of rescuing millions from poverty.

FORBES: Magazine Article

In some European countries, a fifth of those aged 18 to 24 dropped out with no more than lower secondary schooling, and lack the skills they need to find a job.

UNESCO: One dollar invested in youth skills can pay back fifteen-fold in economic growth | United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization

Still, in finally reaching the presidency, Lula has defied many forecasts of failure: many pundits argued that a former metalworker, lacking secondary schooling let alone a university degree, was unelectable in a basically conservative country.

ECONOMIST: Brazil's presidential election

This eventually translated into a series of government programs, such as state-funded primary and secondary schooling, the adoption of a five-day, forty-hour workweek, elimination of child labor, introduction of welfare and unemployment services, senior income support, workplace safety regulations, environmental regulations, and eventually some form of universal healthcare.

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At Miami in 1994, the leaders set themselves a modest goal: primary schooling for all children, and secondary for 75% by 2010.

ECONOMIST: Sound curriculum: but can the Americas put it into effect?

For those enrolled in secondary education, two courses at this level of schooling are completed in each academic year which corresponds to a period of ten months.

UNESCO: Integral School Literacy Programme