UNESCO education report

[NewsWhore]

Despite a great deal of progress since 2000, millions of children, young people and adults in Latin America still lack access to good quality education and the benefits it brings. According to UNESCO, this inequality of opportunity is undermining progress towards achieving the Millennium Goal of "Education for All" by 2015 and is a serious concern for the Dominican Republic. The report indicates that the region is close to universal primary education (UPE). Some 69 million children were enrolled in primary education in 2006, the gross enrollment ratio (GER) stood at 118% and the net enrollment ratio at 94%. However, in countries like the Dominican Republic enrollment ratios have declined since 2000. Learning achievement remains low in the Dominican Republic, Ecuador and Guatemala where half or more of third grade students have very low reading levels. Lack of funding from the international community cannot be blamed for this lag in Dominican education. Aid for education targets a small number of countries. In 2006 the five largest recipients got 48% of the total share, including Nicaragua (US$113 million, including US$81 for primary education), the Dominican Republic (US$88 million, including US$41 for primary education), Peru (US$66 million), Brazil (US$62 million) and Haiti (US$53 million).
www.unesco.org/en/education/efareport/reports/2009-governance/ (http://www.unesco.org/en/education/efareport/reports/2009-governance/)
The report's publication coincides with a complaint by Education Minister Melanio Paredes who says that the proposed budget allotment for his department falls short of the funds needed to add new classrooms in 2009 and meet department goals for the year, as reported in Listin Diario. The budgeted allotment was kept at RD$30,935,878,260, the same as in 2008.

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