United Nations Radio

There's an urgent call for national governments to allocate at least four to six per cent of gross national product and 15 to 20 per cent of public expenditure to education.

students

The call is contained in the Oslo Declaration, adopted at the close of a High Level Group Meeting on Education for All.
The declaration also urges development partners to increase official development assistance and give priority to investment in basic education.
Representatives from nearly 40 governments, intergovernmental organizations and civil society warn that stagnation in aid commitments, which has left a funding gap of seven billion dollars annually, and a cut in the share of national income to education in some countries, is a cause for serious concern and must be reversed.
The Declaration stresses that education "is one of the most effective tools" for achieving "economic growth and recovery, reducing poverty, hunger and child labor" and "improving health, incomes and livelihoods."
The Oslo Declaration also endorsed the creation of an International Task Force on Teachers for Education for All - a voluntary alliance working to address the global and growing shortage of teachers.
An estimated 18 million new primary teachers will be needed in the next seven years to achieve universal primary education by the target date of 2015.

This is Donn Bobb reporting for United Nations Radio.

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