GIZ: 10 to 15 Percent of Children Enrolled in Primary School Never Finish It

School(BETAPHOTO/MILOS MISKOV/DS)

A total of 95.7 percent of Serbian children are enrolled in primary school, but as many as 10 to 15 percent never finish it, says the Voluntary National Review on the Implementation of the 2030 UN Agenda for Sustainable Development, published on the International Day for the Protection of Children, June 1. 

The statistics show that a mere nine percent of the poorest children attend pre-school programmes, the German Corporation for International Cooperation (GIZ) reported. 

The 2030 agenda, containing 17 sustainable development goals the fulfilment of which Serbia, too, has committed itself to as a member of the United Nations, is devoted to sustainable development in conformity with the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. 

Bogdan Gavanski, project manager for a platform to promote a society-wide dialogue on the implementation of sustainable development goals in Serbia, Sustainable Development for All, said that the first five goals were to eliminate inequalities in terms of poverty, quality of nutrition and health protection, access to education and gender equality.