World's largest drop-outs in South & East Asia: UN
By CT Hj Mahmod

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Institute for Statistics in its South and East Asia Regional Report reveals that more children are attending school than ever before in the region but many of them drop out before the end of the primary cycle and the region still accounts for the world's largest share of out-of-school children.

The report presents the latest education data for 22 countries in the region, ranging from the Philippines in the East to Afghanistan and the Islamic Republic of Iran in the West, and including five of the world's most populated nations.

It states that an estimated 46 millions children are out-of-school in the region and 32 millions of them come from the countries of South and West Asia.

Therefore in order to decrease this alarming trend, countries in South and West Asia will need to recruit a very large number of qualified teachers, says the report.

The adult literacy rate in East Asia is now estimated at about 86 percent, which means there are about 180 millions illiterates, of whom 72 percent are women.

Of all the countries in South and East Asia, Malaysia devotes the highest percentage of its GDP to education, with Myanmar the lowest.

The report also reveals that most of the tertiary students in Brunei graduated from the Social Science, Business and Law courses.

From the data on field of studies, there are some 33 millions students in tertiary education throughout the region and China alone accounts for 12 millions of the statistics. It also states that some 61 percent tertiary students are men.

The report also estimated there are about 13 millions primary teachers throughout the region, nine millions of whom are in East Asia. And 50 percent of primary teachers across the region are women, although the figures vary greatly from country to country.

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin