RE EDUCATION

Our children are our ultimate hope.--and moreover our only hope--for tomorrow.  It is threrefore necessary to give them every possible opportunity to become as knowledgeable and competent in their respective chosen fields of endeavor as possible,.

All the world's children are entitled to receive a quality education.  Beyond a universal minimum, which should be a requirement for all children, additional education, in accordance with each child's desires and abilities, should be attainable by all.  It furthermore goes without saying that equal access to all levels of education should be available to women as well as men.

Emphasis on, and attention to, the education of our children is one of humanity's most important considerations.  However, it today receives attention in widely varying amounts in different places--sometimes not very far from one another.  For example, in 2000, only four percent of Israel's population over fifteen years of age was illiterate; while this figure was close to fifty percent in nearby Iraq and Egypt, and well over fifty percent in Yemen.  Of course, variations in economic and political conditionns would be cited as the cause for these extreme differences.  On the other hand, it is my purpose to convince that the formation of a single worldwide state, administered by a single worldwide just and beneficent government, coupled with worldwide access to a single worldwide economy, should and would provide worldwide access to equal educational opportunities for all.  This would eventually result in the emergence of skilled and talented people from all corners of the earth, happily contributing to the welfare of all.

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At the beginning of 2007, the world still contained over 323 million children who were not enrolled in any school whatsoever--and likely, under present circumstances, never will.  Only 58 percent of the world's secondary school level age group (ages 12 to 17) were enrolled in high school as of 2008.  It is unlikely that this has improved very much during the last few years either.  And a recent report tells us that while college enrollment is increasing worldwide--particularly in Russia and Africa--the percentage of the world's pop;ulation who currently hold college degrees is a mere 6.7 percent