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All Nations Should Spend 6 Percent of GDP on Education: World Education Forum

Posted on: Monday, 27 March 2006, 09:00 CST

All nations should spend 6 percent of GDP on education: World Education Forum

RIO DE JANEIRO, March 26 (Xinhua) -- The Fourth World Education Forum on Sunday called on all nations to spend at least six percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) on education.

The four-day forum, which ended Sunday in the Brazilian city of Nova Iguazu, delivered a final declaration, which emphasized that education was a fundamental human right.

The declaration also called for the defense of public education, adding that education should be used as a tool to transmit knowledge and culture.

It said that the increasing insecurity of teachers' work restricted the right to access to quality education for all.

In her final speech to the conference, Brazil's women's minister, Nilceia Freire, said that equality in education required not only equality between men and women but also racial equality and higher ethical standards.

She added that higher education standards were needed for teachers in all areas, rural or urban, rich or poor, in order to boost equal opportunity.

The World Social Forum, of which the World Education Forum is a part, attracted 30,000 participants this year. It was launched in 2001 and held three previous events in Port Alegre, the capital of the Rio Grande del Sur state, before moving to Sao Paulo in 2004.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

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