education

With a projected worldwide shortage of 18 million teachers over the next decade, most critically in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Arab States, a United Nations report released today advocates training parents and teaching assistants to fill the gap, along with other innovative solutions.

Countries seeking a breakthrough in universal basic education by abolishing school fees will soon have a detailed blueprint based on the experience of African states that have already taken that step, thanks to a new United Nations-backed initiative.

In a “good news-bad news” review on the gender gap in education, a new United Nations report today shows more youngsters than ever going to school, but with millions of girls still excluded, a “quantum leap” – and an extra $5.6 billion a year in international aid – are needed to reach the goal of universal primary schooling by 2015.

Without achieving gender equality for girls in education, the world has no chance of achieving many of the ambitious health, social and development targets it has set for itself, United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan said today.

Despite significant efforts to increase resources, and record levels of children going to school, many drop out before the fifth grade or graduate without mastering even a minimum set of cognitive skills, threatening global educational goals set in 2000, according to a new United Nations-backed report.

Acknowledging that HIV/AIDS, conflict and deepening poverty have eroded gains in enrolling more girls in school in many countries, the head of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has called on nations to respect promises made to ensure that girls and boys receive the same educational opportunities.

A Costa Rican professor and adviser with a long record of advocating for the protection of human rights has been selected by the United Nations to serve as the world body's Special Rapporteur on the right to education.

Despite a marked increase over the past decade in children attending primary and secondary schools worldwide, there remain substantial differences between countries and regions ranging from as much as over 17 years of education to as little as two years, according to a new United Nations report released today.

As part of the global Education for All Week, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is calling for increased efforts to reduce the disproportionate number of girls denied schooling.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) announced today that it has struck a five-year agreement with Stora Enso, a paper, packaging and forest products company, to help it in its bid to extend basic education to the 121 million children around the world who cannot go to school.