[00:00.00]From VOA Learning English, [00:01.07]this is the Education Report. [00:04.33]African educators and civil society group members [00:08.70]gathered recently to discuss the U.N.'s [00:12.04]Millennium Development Goals on education. [00:15.94]They said a U.N. report shows progress, [00:20.00]but they also said some countries cannot meet the goals [00:24.11]by the target-date next year. [00:26.71]The educators and other experts said [00:30.64]those countries cannot increase education [00:33.29]and gain equal treatment for boys and girls in schools by 2015. [00:40.28]They noted that this is especially true of sub-Saharan nations. [00:46.02]The meeting in Yaounde, Cameroon [00:49.07]included experts from 43 African countries. [00:53.84]Jean Pierre Edzoa is an official of Cameroon's Ministry of Social Affairs. [01:00.55]He describes the life ahead for uneducated children as a disaster. [01:07.01]He says the government is doing everything possible [01:10.65]to make parents understand that they harm their children [01:14.97]if they do not send them to school. [01:17.66]The World Wildlife Fund for Nature is best known [01:22.37]for its work for the environment. [01:24.66]But it is also helping efforts to increase school attendance. [01:29.20]Hanson Njiforti is director of the WWF office in Cameroon. [01:36.63]He said it is now centering its efforts on education, [01:41.52]because so many children do not go to school. [01:45.31]That sound invites Baka and Mbororo ethnic groups in Central Africa [01:54.44]to send their children to school. [01:57.09]They still live their traditional lives of their groups [02:01.19]and official education is not of top importance for them. [02:06.42]Mr. Njiforti notes that the Baka people have been asked [02:11.40]for their ideas about how to get children into school rooms. [02:16.00]Bois Waruku is with the group Africa Network Campaign on Education for all. [02:23.28]He says the meeting in Yaounde provided a chance to look to the future. [02:29.15]"The sustainable development goals that civil societies [02:33.06]have been pushing for is that beyond 2015. [02:36.49]Before 2015 world leaders did commit to millennium development goals [02:42.45]which were to be achieved by 2015, [02:44.64]so a number of the goals that they committed to [02:46.98]are coming to and end in 2015. [02:49.97]Beyond 2015 what should it be like? " said Waruku. [02:53.37]Beatrice Njenga heads the Education Division at the African Union Commission. [03:00.70]She says educators are preparing a 50-year education program for Africa. [03:07.18]She says they need financial help and central planning. [03:12.57]"If you want to support Africa, [03:15.17]you need to understand Africa's very well articulated vision [03:19.15]with priorities in education for 2063 [03:22.40]so that all investment is towards a common vision. [03:26.23]So unless we actually sit and put in place strategies [03:30.43]to achieve what we need to achieve in 50 years, [03:33.17]it will be 2063 and we will be still talking about the same thing." said Njenga. [03:36.76]The education experts reported some good news, [03:40.70]they said rates of poverty have been decreasing [03:44.50]and more children are in school. [03:47.23]And that's the Education Report from VOA Learning English. [03:53.09]I'm Jerilyn Watson.