Nov 15 (Reuters) - An African proverb states "Give someone a fish and you feed them for a day; Teach them how to fish and you will feed them for a lifetime."

The proverb is usually recited to argue the case for development aid that helps Africans help themselves, but it also holds true for the importance of education in enabling Africa to make the most of its human riches and natural resources.

Here are some facts about education in Africa.

NUMBERS:

* Of the around 100 million children worldwide who do not attend school, 44 million are in sub-Saharan Africa.

* On current trends, sub-Saharan Africa as a whole will not achieve the 2015 goal of universal primary education until 2130.

* All the public spending on sub-Saharan African education taken together is, per pupil, still less than $40 a year, less than one dollar per week.

* In April this year, British Finance Minister Gordon Brown unveiled a $15 billion commitment to fund education in developing countries, described as the biggest global education initiative ever undertaken.

* Last year's UK-sponsored Africa Commission report, which was intended as a global blueprint for recovery in Africa, recommended an extra $7-8 billion in aid each year for education and called on local governments to end school fees, with donors to pick up the bill.

* In one out of four African countries, half of children reaching the end of primary school do not continue to secondary level. More than 85 percent of pupils make the transition in most countries of Europe, Asia, North and South America.

* Only about one in three children will complete primary education in six countries: Niger (21 percent), Guinea-Bissau (27 percent), Burkina Faso (27 percent), Chad (32 percent), Burundi (32 percent) and Mali (33 percent).

PROGRESS:

* Across sub-Saharan Africa, enrolment in primary school increased from 74 per cent in 1990 to 87 per cent in 2001.

* In 2003, Kenya abolished school fees which led to an additional 1.2 million children in school, taking the total enrolment to 7.2 million in 2004 or 84 percent of primary school-age children.

* In 1994, Malawi abolished school fees which resulted in an immediate jump in enrolments of 50 percent, or an increase of more than 1 million children going to school.

GENDER EQUALITY:

* Girls often face greater obstacles in completing their education than boys.

* Last year, the United Nations said nearly 50 countries, most in sub-Saharan Africa, would miss an end of year deadline to have as many girls as boys in primary and secondary education.

* Poverty, cultural traditions, HIV/AIDS and armed conflict are among impediments to reaching the goal of parity between the sexes in primary and secondary schools.

* The Millennium Development Goal is to reach equality at all levels of education by 2015.

Sources: Reuters/UNESCO/UNICEF

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