Access to primary and secondary education is high, with primary school gross enrolment ratio (GER) close to universal and secondary school GER at 92% in 2009. Pre-primary schooling is not compulsory, yet gross enrolment rates are relatively high, at 57%. Tertiary education is above the Central Asia regional average with a GER of 51% in 2009 (UIS 2009). 

High dropout rates, especially among rural boys during the transition from primary to secondary education remains as one of the major challenges within the education system.  Growing economic disparities between rural and urban areas and within urban areas are reflected in poor access to education. In order to be effective, education in rural areas requires strategies to cope with long distances, scattered populations and nomadic lifestyles. Access to education continues to be on the agenda for Mongolian policy leaders who are working to bridge the gaps and disparities in access and performance of students between rural and urban areas (UNESCO 2008).  These inequalities can be seen in rural areas and semi-urban areas of the capital where recent migration has created overcrowding and lack of access to social services (VSO 2011), in addition to the challenges of access to pre-school and upper secondary schools in rural areas (UNESCO 2008).

In the transition period from a socialist to a market-driven economy, Mongolia's education system underwent significant changes.  Today, the main challenges in quality of education are to create an inclusive and enabling learning environment, make available bilingual language teaching, promote student-centered learning and enhance the professional development of teachers. The main constraint on improving educational quality is the absence of a comprehensive teacher in-service training system and national teacher accreditation system. Training programmes at teacher training universities and colleges do not follow any national standards. School and provincial authorities are in charge of teacher recruitment and assessment (UNESCO 2008). Due to this lack of nationally agreed professional standards and teacher accreditation schemes, the knowledge and competence of new teachers vary from school to school. The teaching techniques and subject knowledge of many teachers are inadequate and outdated, and need to be upgraded, particularly in rural areas. The shortage of qualified English and vocational teachers is largely due to the inability of the education sector to compete with the private sector in employing personnel with these skills (IBE 2011). 

The education sector has always been a top priority in the national development strategy and resource allocation. The Education Law stipulates that at least 20% of the government budget is to be allocated to education. However, in 2009, public expenditure on education was 5.6% of GDP and 14.6% of total government expenditure (UIS 2009). In 2011, government expenditure on education is 14.3% of the total budget (MoECS n.d.). The Law permits education delivery through both for-profit and not-for-profit institutions. The Public Sector Finance and Management (PSFM) Law, which was enacted in 2003 to enhance transparency and efficiency of public spending, has important implications for the education sector (UNESCO 2008).  

Toward the end of Mongolia's first action plan on EFA (2002-05), the MECS committed itself to conducting a comprehensive review of the current situation of EFA and preparation of a new EFA strategy. This review analyzed the achievements, problems, issues and challenges in the areas of pre-school, formal basic education and non-formal education. This work was later integrated into the process of development of the Education Sector Master Plan (ESMP-2), so there is now a stand-alone EFA Action Plan. The Mongolia Education Master Plan (2006-15) identifies the long-term strategic policy objectives to be pursued by the Government of Mongolia and also presents the strategies and ways to achieve them along with the funds needed for their implementation. These objectives are to: (i) reduce and eliminate inequality in access and quality of education; (ii) renew education standards and curriculum; (iii) renew monitoring and information management to raise financial, budget and technological conditions; (iv) make strong investment to human resource development and resolve issues of professional methodological development, salaries, benefits and social issues; (v) connect all educational institutions, schools and kindergartens to the Internet and introduce ICT training, information exchange, monitoring, evaluation and registration systems; (vi) develop school-based management, support development of organizations, reform educational administrative and professional management systems; and (vii) increase responsibility of the Government of Mongolia (Government of Mongolia 2006).