Unesco to launch Southeast Asia Education Report 2008

More than three million children do not attend school in Southeast Asia, according to the report. Countries in the region facing the greatest challenge to address the problem are Vietnam (with one million out-of-school students), the Philippines (with 648,000), Burma (with 487,000), Thailand (with 419,000) and Indonesia (with 414,000).

High repetition rates are also seen in Southeast Asia, particularly in Grade 1, due largely to a lack of early childhood education. Cambodia and Laos have the highest repetition rates in Grade 1, at 24 per cent and 34 per cent respectively. Both countries also have the lowest early childhood care and education coverage in Southeast Asia, with only nine per cent and eight per cent of children aged three to five enrolled in pre-primary school respectively.

The report also looks at gender disparities in primary education and secondary levels. The only countries to have equal numbers of boys and girls relative to the population enrolled at both primary and secondary levels are Indonesia, Burma and Singapore. Cambodia and Laos recorded under-enrolment of girls, whereas in Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand, boys were under-enrolled.

The 2008 "Education for All (EFA) Global Monitoring Report" tracks countries' progress in meeting the EFA goals, an international movement agreed upon by 164 governments at the World Education Forum in Dakar in 2000. The launch of the report is part of the Southeast Asia EFA Mid-Term Policy Review Conference, where participating countries will make recommendations on policies and strategies to ensure the delivery of a quality education for all.

The report is available for download at http://www.unescobkk.org/index.php?id=7696. For hardcopies please write to efa@unescobkk.org with subject heading "Print Copy Request: 2008 EFA Global Monitoring Report". For more information, contact: Leotes Lugo Helin (l.lugo@unescobkk.org) or call (02) 391 0577 ext 236.