United Nations Report Urges “Putting Education to Work”

October 18, 2012

A young boy at the Mugosi Primary School, which mainly serves children from the Kahe refugee camp in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

From VOA Learning English, this is the Education Report in Special English.

A new United Nations report says over two hundred million young people in developing countries have not completed primary school. The UN says almost one hundred thirty million are in school. But they cannot read or write -- skills they need to escape from poverty. The report urges donors and governments to support ways for young people to get the skills they need for success.

The findings are from the Education for All Global Monitoring Report by UNESCO -- the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

Educators say young people need at least a primary school education and some secondary school to get secure, good-paying jobs. But the report says that is not happening in most developing countries, including ones south of the Sahara Desert. It says about thirty three percent of young people in sub-Saharan Africa fail to complete the first few years of schooling. Millions more do not even go to secondary school.

Pauline Rose is the director of the Education for All Global Monitoring Report. She says some schools are failing to provide a bridge between school and work. She says this means that one in eight young people are unemployed. And one in four people earns very low wages.