Thursday, 20 September 2007
BBC NEWS
Schools 'fail' in ex-Soviet bloc
Millions of children in the ex-Soviet bloc have suffered a "catastrophic decline" in access to education since communism collapsed, the UN has warned.
More than 14m children in the region reach adulthood each year with little or no formal schooling, a report by the UN children's fund (Unicef) says.
Education policy in many countries is inadequate and can reinforce social and economic divisions, it says.
Georgia, Tajikistan and Moldova are among the worst-affected nations.
Much of Central Asia and eastern and Central Europe had attained universal access to education under communism, Unicef said.
But despite the transition to democracy, economic growth and an increase in education spending in many countries, access to education has fallen, the report said.
Racial inequalities
Some 12m youngsters do not make it to secondary school, and 2.5m do not even attend primary school.
The report, Education for Some More than Others?, found that inequality between ...
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