Education, Careers & Professional News
More Children Going To School But Girls Still Denied Education
NEW YORK: More youngsters than ever before are attending school but millions of girls are still being denied basic education, a new report by Unicef has said. The progress for children report by the UNs child agency stresses that to make the millennium goal a reality, a radical shift in the thinking and policy would be required.
This report proves that our strategic focus on getting more girls into school is working to increase attendance rates for boys and girls in primary school, Unicef executive director Carol Bellamy said. But it also makes clear that a quantum leap is needed both to break down the barriers keeping girls out of school and to make school available to all children. Girls who do not attend primary school are more likely to fall victim to HIV infection and less able to bring up a healthy family, she said.
A quantum leap in resources and an extra $5.6 billion a year are needed to reach the goal of universal primary education by 2015 which is a millennium development goal (MDG), the report said. It said the gender gap in primary education is closing globally but in some parts of the world, there are wide gaps. Some 125 out of 180 countries for which data are available are on course to reach gender parity by 2005, a prerequisite for achieving the education MDG, but the global average masks huge pockets of inequity. Three regions – the Middle East and north Africa; south Asia; and west and central Africa will not meet the gender parity goal.
According to projections, fewer than 100 million children may be out of primary school by 2005, down from an estimated 115 million in 2001. But whatever the exact figure, the report said it is clear that far too many are still shut out of the classroom, and at the present rate of increased school attendance, the goal of universal primary education by 2015 wont be met.
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
India, NZ shares education link
NEW DELHI: Waking up to the need of augmenting India`s presence in the world education market, the government is entering into an education co-operation agreement (ECA) with New Zealand.
The interest shown by New Zealand and the signing of an agreement is in keeping with the growing interest that developed countries are showing in India as a market for their education services.
The ECA would enable education institutions of both countries to work jointly on research, facilitate exchange of students, academic staff as well as provide scholarships for higher study in recognized institutions.
New Zealand is fast emerging as a destination for Indian students. This move by the government will allow Indian institutions to occupy Kiwi mind share, thereby creating a market for Indian education exports.
For their part, New Zealand views this as an opportunity to hold discussions between governments, officials and sector representatives to deepen their knowledge of policy and market trends in Indian education.