Report: rich nations flunk test on educating poor

Catholic New Times, Dec 14, 2003

WASHINGTON -- The Netherlands is top of the class and the United States third from last among rich nations that help educate the world's poor, a report by an alliance of development agencies found.

The report, released on Tuesday by the Global Campaign for Education, an international coalition of development agencies, teachers' unions and community groups, looked at 22 rich countries and how much of their aid budgets go toward boosting education in developing countries.

It said the report was a first look at how rich countries have performed on promises made during a conference in Dakar in 2000 to supply funds needed to give the world's children a basic education by the year 2015, under an "Education for All" initiative.

More than 100 million children around the world are not now attending school and another 150 million will not complete their basic education this year, the Global Campaign for Education estimated.

"The contrast between rhetoric and reality is. staggering," the report said. It gave President Bush 12 marks out of 100, just above the leaders of Greece and New Zealand, saying the United States was the least generous aid giver as a share of national income.