By D. Arul Rajoo
BANGKOK, March 24 (Bernama) -- Malaysia had the highest allocation of total public expenditure for education at 25 per cent, and is making good progress towards the Education for All (EFA) goals, according to a report released by UNESCO Tuesday.
The share of total government expenditure devoted to education ranged from nine per cent in Japan to 25 per cent in Malaysia and Thailand, said the '2009 EFA Global Monitoring Report - Overcoming inequality: Why Governance Matters'.
The median percentage of gross national product (GNP) devoted to education was 3.6 per cent in East Asia in 2006, with Cambodia allocating 1.8 per cent, compared with 6.6 per cent in Malaysia and Australia 4.7 per cent.
Unesco director-general Koichiro Matsuura said when financial systems failed, the consequences were highly visible and governments acted, compared to the impact when education failed.
"...but no less real. Unequal opportunities for education fuel poverty, hunger and child mortality, and reduce prospects for economic growth. That is why governments must act with a greater sense of urgency," he said.
Malaysia has also one of the highest teaching staff increase in the region, with an increase of more than 30 per cent since 1999.
Unesco said East Asia and the Pacific accounted for nearly 13 per cent of the world's out-of-school population in 2006 -- equivalent to 9.5 million non-enrolled children, an increase of 3.5 million since 1999.
It said 75 million children of primary school age were not in school throughout the world, including just under one-third of the relevant age group in sub-Saharan Africa.
These children are being deprived of the opportunity to get their feet on the first rung of a ladder that could give them the skills and knowledge to climb out of poverty and break the transmission of disadvantage across generations.
Malaysia, along with Cambodia, Myanmar and South Korea, made extraordinary progress in reducing the number of children not enrolled, but the number of out-of-school children increased in the Cook Islands, Fiji, the Philippines and Vanuatu.
The report also showed that almost all children reached the last grade of primary education in Malaysia, Brunei and Korea, as compared to Cambodia and Laos which had the survival rates of 55 per cent and 62 per cent, respectively.
On children who completed the primary education cycle, Unesco said girls were at a disadvantage for entering secondary education, adding that the transition rate from primary to secondary education was about 90 per cent in Malaysia, Fiji, the Philippines and Korea.
Unesco said a recent monitoring work underlined the appalling and unequal state of education infrastructure and quality in 11 developing countries, including Malaysia and the Philippines.
"While Malaysia was found to have the best resourced schools, half or more of school heads in the Philippines said their 'school needs complete rebuilding' or 'some classrooms need major repairs," it said.
In terms of fundamental resources for learning, only 20 per cent or less attending schools with no libraries in Malaysia, as compared to the Philippines where half of students attend schools with no libraries and about the same percentage, have no textbooks.
-- BERNAMA
BANGKOK, March 24 (Bernama) -- Malaysia had the highest allocation of total public expenditure for education at 25 per cent, and is making good progress towards the Education for All (EFA) goals, according to a report released by UNESCO Tuesday.
The share of total government expenditure devoted to education ranged from nine per cent in Japan to 25 per cent in Malaysia and Thailand, said the '2009 EFA Global Monitoring Report - Overcoming inequality: Why Governance Matters'.
The median percentage of gross national product (GNP) devoted to education was 3.6 per cent in East Asia in 2006, with Cambodia allocating 1.8 per cent, compared with 6.6 per cent in Malaysia and Australia 4.7 per cent.
Unesco director-general Koichiro Matsuura said when financial systems failed, the consequences were highly visible and governments acted, compared to the impact when education failed.
"...but no less real. Unequal opportunities for education fuel poverty, hunger and child mortality, and reduce prospects for economic growth. That is why governments must act with a greater sense of urgency," he said.
Malaysia has also one of the highest teaching staff increase in the region, with an increase of more than 30 per cent since 1999.
Unesco said East Asia and the Pacific accounted for nearly 13 per cent of the world's out-of-school population in 2006 -- equivalent to 9.5 million non-enrolled children, an increase of 3.5 million since 1999.
It said 75 million children of primary school age were not in school throughout the world, including just under one-third of the relevant age group in sub-Saharan Africa.
These children are being deprived of the opportunity to get their feet on the first rung of a ladder that could give them the skills and knowledge to climb out of poverty and break the transmission of disadvantage across generations.
Malaysia, along with Cambodia, Myanmar and South Korea, made extraordinary progress in reducing the number of children not enrolled, but the number of out-of-school children increased in the Cook Islands, Fiji, the Philippines and Vanuatu.
The report also showed that almost all children reached the last grade of primary education in Malaysia, Brunei and Korea, as compared to Cambodia and Laos which had the survival rates of 55 per cent and 62 per cent, respectively.
On children who completed the primary education cycle, Unesco said girls were at a disadvantage for entering secondary education, adding that the transition rate from primary to secondary education was about 90 per cent in Malaysia, Fiji, the Philippines and Korea.
Unesco said a recent monitoring work underlined the appalling and unequal state of education infrastructure and quality in 11 developing countries, including Malaysia and the Philippines.
"While Malaysia was found to have the best resourced schools, half or more of school heads in the Philippines said their 'school needs complete rebuilding' or 'some classrooms need major repairs," it said.
In terms of fundamental resources for learning, only 20 per cent or less attending schools with no libraries in Malaysia, as compared to the Philippines where half of students attend schools with no libraries and about the same percentage, have no textbooks.
-- BERNAMA
1 comment:
What a great resource!
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