Nine nations discuss 'Education for All'

JAKARTA (JP): Education ministers and experts from nine of the world's most populous nations began a meeting in Indonesia yesterday to hammer out the concept of "Education For All" as a way of eradicating illiteracy.

President Soeharto gave the keynote address at the three-day meeting, which was opened at the State Palace in Jakarta and which was also attended by UNESCO Director General Federico Mayor.

After the opening ceremony, the delegates immediately proceeded to the holiday island of Bali, where the conference will be held until it closes on Saturday.

The conference is a follow up to the 1993 summit of the nine most populous countries in the world in New Delhi, where the leaders, including President Soeharto, endorsed the concept of "Education For All" as crucial for the advancement of any nation.

The same nine countries are represented at the meeting in Indonesia. They are Bangladesh, Brazil, China, India, Egypt, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan and host Indonesia. Together, they represent more than half of the world's population.

The conference opening was timed to coincide with the celebration to mark the 30th International Literacy Day and was also used by President Soeharto to launch September as "Reading Month" and "Visit the Library Month", which are part of the government's efforts to encourage the Indonesian public to pick up the habit of reading.

The conference will be chiefly used by delegates to share their experiences and learn, with respect to the implementation of the "Education For All" program in each country, Indonesia's Minister of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro said at the opening ceremony. "It is hoped that, in the future, there will be improvement in cooperation between the nine countries, so as to improve the future human quality of half of the world's population," he said.

President Soeharto, in his keynote address, said that the experiences of advanced countries have shown that national development cannot be separated from the quality of its people which, in turn, depended on their education level.

To implement "Education For All", he proposed the delegates concentrate on two aspects: finding innovative approaches to expand access to education, and improving the quality of education.

He said the programs worked out under the concept would not only benefit the nine countries taking part, but also the rest of the world.

Indonesia, he explained to the delegates, has strived to eliminate illiteracy, which still stood at six million people in the 10-44 years age bracket at the last count two years ago.

The government now hopes to eliminate the illiteracy rate, currently put at about 12 percent of the total population of about 195 million, before the end of the century. (emb)