A new report finds millions of children in Central and Eastern Europe and countries of the former Soviet Union are missing out on education. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) warns a large uneducated labour force will hamper economic growth and make these countries less competitive in the global marketplace. Ms. Lisa Schlein reports for Voice of America (VOA) from Geneva, Switzerland, where the report was launched.

The report cites the educational system as one of the big casualties of the transition from communism to capitalism in the countries of the former Soviet Union. It says these countries enjoyed universal education under communism, but that now has changed.

UNICEF reports more than 14 million children across the region are not in school. This includes 2.5 million children who have dropped out of primary school. It says attendance rates in Georgia, Moldova and Tajikistan are so low these countries are unlikely to meet the U.N. Millennium Development Goal of universal primary education by 2014.

Coordinator of the study and UNICEF Regional Education Adviser, Mr. Philippe Testor-Ferry, says children of wealthier, more educated families benefit from the public education system. But, he says the poorer children do not, even though schools in most of these countries are officially free.

"But, a number of educational services that in the past were provided free to the families - school meals, school health, transportation - all these services have been cut down since the transition. And, they actually form a basket of hidden costs," he said.

Mr. Testor says poor families cannot afford these hidden costs. He also notes most schools are built in urban areas where richer people are likely to live and not in the poor rural communities.

UNICEF Regional Director for Central and Eastern Europe, Ms. Maria Calivis says every year more than 14 million children enter the workforce without any formal education. She says this region is second only to the Middle East in terms of youth unemployment.

"The young population is definitely an asset to promote the economy," Ms. Calivis further said. "It is an engine behind also promoting an economy that is trying to compete globally. Rather than on cheap labour, more and more governments are giving priority to have their economies compete on a labour force that is skilled and that has the required competencies."

UNICEF says ethnic minorities, especially Roma children, suffer discrimination in education, as do disabled children. In the lower grades, it says fewer girls than boys go to school. But, throughout the region, it says girls outnumber boys in higher education.

The report urges governments to substantially increase the amount of money they spend on education from the current low of three percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to at least six percent.

Original Report on the Net :

 Feature article
UNICEF report card on education warns millions of children left behind in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS)….
A report, “Education for Some, more than Others,” commissioned by the UNICEF Regional Office for CEE/CIS, concluded that, in spite of the economic recovery and increased public expenditure on education in many countries over the past decade, most national education systems were struggling to provide universal education.
www.unicef.org/media/media_40929.html

 UNICEF report “Education for Some, more than Others”
www.unicef.org/media/files/Regional_Education_Study_-.pdf (.PDF File Format, size 4.05 Megabytes)

PHOTO : A Roma boy reads a book in a classroom in ‘Patka,’ Hungary, in 2003. The UNICEF has warned that the collapse of Communism has led to a "catastrophic" decline in access to education and widening inequalities in the former Soviet bloc. Ethnic minorities such as the Roma, and children with physical and mental disabilities, are said to be particularly vulnerable as education services get squeezed. Photo with courtesy of Agence France-Presse.