Armed conflict main global obstacle
Armed conflict across the world is the major obstacle to establishing education for all, said Education For All, a global monitoring report of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (Unesco), launched yesterday.
Bangladesh holds the tenth position in the report's list of 21 developing countries, which spend more on military budgets than on primary education.
The report also reasoned Chittagong Hill Tracts region lagging behind in education indicators due to armed conflict and being a heavily militarised area.
Primary and Mass Education Minister Afsarul Ameen launched the report at a function organised by Unesco at Islamic Development Bank in the city.
The report, published since 2002, assesses the achievement of different countries regarding ensuring education for all. This year's topic was “The Hidden Crisis: Armed conflict and education”.
Presenting a keynote paper based on the report, Habibur Rahman, director (Education) of Save the Children, USA, said half of the number of Bangladeshi children enrolled in class one reach class five.
Though enrolment increased in past ten years, about 6.3 million adolescents are out of schools in Bangladesh, said Habib, quoting the report.
A key message of the report says approach to education with a business mindset undermines any prospect of achieving education for all and Millennium Development Goals and many governments need to increase education financing.
Unesco representative in Dhaka Derek Elias chaired the function, moderated by Rasheda K Choudhury, executive director of Campaign for Popular Education.
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