Misplaced Priority: THE Bane of Education Development in THE World

              Over the years, the world has been striving to achieve Education for All and the Millennium Development goals. There is no gainsaying that these are laudable programmes aimed at improving the state of education in the world. When viewed critically however, one factor which can be attributed to the woes of education development in the world is that education is not accorded the priority it deserves. It is worthy of note that UNESCO has recommended 26% of the GDP of each country in the world as benchmark for education funding. Unfortunately, few countries have really met this standard presently. It is however a paradox that while these countries are paying less attention to education, sports is being promoted beyond limit. Presently, the monthly salary of a football team coach in most countries in the world is equivalent to the annual salary of university professor talk less of a common teacher in primary and secondary schools. While infrastructures and facilities in educational institutions are insufficient and decaying, we build state of the art stadia to host sports fiesta. The basic question is: can Education for All and the Millennium Development Goals be achieved with this misplaced priority. Time will eventually judge.