Prensa Latina, Cuba

Millions of European Children Uneducated

Geneva, Sep 20 (Prensa Latina) More than 14 million children in
Central and Eastern Europe and the Independent State Communities do
not have elementary and high school education, a UN Children’s Fund
report informed on Thursday.

According to the document released in Geneva, 2.4 million children do
not receive elementary education and 12 more million do not attend
high school in these territories of the old continent.

UNICEF urged the nations of those regions to increase budgets for
education to six percent of the GDP, because it is usually less than
three percent.

In countries such as Slovakia, Croatia and Poland, unemployment among
young people is over 30 percent, a situation that is worse in Serbia,
Armenia and Macedonia, with 50 percent.

Gypsies are among the most underprivileged minors, mostly in Bulgaria,
Hungary and Romania, with only between 10 and 35 percent attending
elementary schools, UNICEF said.

Children’s education mainly depends on the resources of families that
can pay for their schooling and the poor lack those possibilities to
educate their children.

hr ccs iom bts

PL-55