Cuba is the only country in Latin America and the Caribbean that will meet the UN Millennium Goal for universal education, states a United Nations report issued on Thursday. Argentina, Chile and Mexico will be close to reaching the goals but Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic are far from doing so, notes the UN report.

The annual report from the UN cultural and education agency (UNESCO) concludes that Latin America and the Caribbean will not meet with the objectives of education for all. The study was made public simultaneously in New York, New Delhi and Santiago de Chile.

The Millennium Goals were set by the United Nations and seek to halve extreme poverty by the year 2015.

In Education, the goals include primary school education to be available to all children, adult literacy, quality education and gender equality in elementary and high school education and literacy. Compliance is measured by an Education for All Development Index.

Rosa Blanco, regional director of UNESCO, said that as a whole the region is not going to reach the six objectives, noting that Cuba leads the way.

According to the index, Cuba leads the region followed by Argentina, Chile, Mexico, Uruguay, Panama, Venezuela, Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.

Some countries of the region were not listed for lack of statistical information, reported AP.

Periodico 26