Nevertheless, it was the lack of school books that dealt the hardest blow to the heart of the Greek family.
Ms. Weingarten said there were still too many incidents in which the lack of school security personnel, poor training or poor supervision have resulted in problems.
As girls approach puberty, the lack of school toilets and the related fears around safety cause many mothers to remove their daughters from the education system altogether.
Some are well into their teens by the time they reach sixth or seventh grade because their academic progress was delayed due to lack of school fees".
"Children are being taught in PortaKabins and increasingly large classes, and until the government tackles the lack of school places these problems will get worse".
Mostly, I don't believe that problems in Afghanistan and Pakistan stem from a lack of money or a lack of school buildings.
In addition, the educational system is further stressed by a lack of school buildings and teaching materials and the limited number of qualified teachers.
"At the moment, everybody understands that given that the lack of housing, given the lack of school space, given the deficit in the operating budget, it is just not practical this year to go and build stadiums," Mr. Bloomberg said.
"Almost half the dropouts [take place] between the first and second grades, and we attribute this to a lack of school readiness," says De Vera, "Some pupils' first experience of school is at age seven or eight".
