NEPAD's vision: NEPAD commits African governments to approach access to education as a right, and therefore places education in the context of social rights as an expression of transparent and accountable governance. Implicit in this understanding is a commitment to the UN Millennium
Development goals of ensuring that boys and girls alike, everywhere, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling; and that gender disparity in all levels of education will be eliminated no later than 2015.
We simply add that the acute shortage of a trained workforce, the serious under-investment in education, literacy rates of less than 50% in many countries, the devastating impact of HIV/AIDS on the education system, and the importance to education to stemming the tide of HIV/AIDS, make a compelling case for the critical importance of education to sustainable development in Africa.
US responsibility: To support these educational aspirations, we note the following indicators for US policy:
- The US government will seek ways, including development assistance and, in particular, a substantial increase in assistance for basic education and vocational education, to support the educational agenda of African governments.
- The US government will oppose "user fees" for basic education, either directly or through international financial institutions.
- The US government will aggressively pursue debt cancellation as an avenue to increase revenue for education.
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