Earthtimes.org

UNICEF: No schooling for 14 million in Central and
Eastern Europe
Posted : Thu, 20 Sep 2007 13:48:00 GMT
Author : DPA

Geneva – Around 14 million children were missing out on education in
central and eastern Europe, according to a study published Thursday in
Geneva by the UN children’s agency UNICEF. Almost 2.4 million children
in the region did not attend primary school, around 2 per cent of
children in that age group, and 12 million did not attend secondary
school out of a total 100 million children aged 18 or under, according
to the study.

Attendance was lowest in Armenia, Georgia, Moldavia and in several
central Asian republics such as Tadjikistan and Kyrgyzstan, where less
than half the children were in secondary school.

These failures in the education system fed poverty and undermined the
economic competitiveness of these countries, UNICEF regional director
Maria Calivis told journalists.

Youth unemployment was running at more than 50 per cent in those
countries lagging behind most in education, such as Serbia, Armenia
and Macedonia. It was around 30 per cent in Slovakia, Croatia and
Poland.

UNICEF urged governments in the region to increase spending on
education from an average 3 per cent of their gross national droduct
to closer to 6 per cent, insisting better wages were needed to attract
good teachers and improve quality.