IT is morally unacceptable and bad public policy to have children that cannot read at the age of 10. This was the consensus of panellists at a seminar titled, “Learning Poverty: Building the foundation of human capital”, at the just concluded IMF/World Bank annual meetings.
The panellists frowned at the situation where a terribly high percentage of children in Sub-Saharan Africa cannot read at age of 10. This, they contend, is at the root of global poverty. Investing in human capital is therefore pivotal to eliminating the scourge of poverty globally.
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Kelvin Watkins, Chief Executive of ‘Save the Children’, identified the incidence of malnutrition, shortage of qualified teachers and inequality in the society, as possible causes of this anomaly that must be addressed. He said that investing in human capital and learning is pivotal to eliminating the scourge of poverty globally.
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Ivo Ferreira Gomes, Mayor of Sobral, Brazil, believes that specially trained, adequate, loving and happy teachers constitute a major fundamental to breaking this yoke of learning poverty.
Annette Dixon, Vice President, Human Development, World Bank Group, summed up the discussion. She said that “beyond fiscal reforms, children must first survive and thrive, families must have access to quality services, girls must have the same opportunities as boys, parents must have economic opportunities, and countries must have policy approaches that allow all of this to flourish.”
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry.