Brown wants to fight ‘slavery of ignorance’

LONDON – Chancellor of the Exchequer Gordon Brown has urged the world to end the modern “slavery of ignorance” as the nation marks the 200th anniversary of its vote to abolish the slave trade.

In an article in The Guardian newspaper, Brown said the best way would be to make universal access to basic education “a global reality.” Brown – who is widely tipped to succeed Prime Minister Tony Blair – said that education could be the “greatest gift” of the world’s richest nations to the poorest, while warning that the alternative was allowing “fundamentalist indoctrination” by extremists to fill the void.”I want every parent, student and school in Britain and the developed world to become campaigners, calling on every government to give every child access to schooling,” he wrote.”In the last few months, 22 African countries have committed to developing plans to ensure all their children have the facilities and teachers to complete primary education by 2015,” he wrote.”The cost is not prohibitive – it’s the most cost-effective investment the world could make – only four pence a day for each person in the richest nations.”Speaking about the 200th anniversary of the vote to end the slave trade, Brown said: “There could be no better commemoration than to abolish all child labor, and ensure that all young children go to school.”Nampa-AFPBrown – who is widely tipped to succeed Prime Minister Tony Blair – said that education could be the “greatest gift” of the world’s richest nations to the poorest, while warning that the alternative was allowing “fundamentalist indoctrination” by extremists to fill the void.”I want every parent, student and school in Britain and the developed world to become campaigners, calling on every government to give every child access to schooling,” he wrote.”In the last few months, 22 African countries have committed to developing plans to ensure all their children have the facilities and teachers to complete primary education by 2015,” he wrote.”The cost is not prohibitive – it’s the most cost-effective investment the world could make – only four pence a day for each person in the richest nations.”Speaking about the 200th anniversary of the vote to end the slave trade, Brown said: “There could be no better commemoration than to abolish all child labor, and ensure that all young children go to school.”Nampa-AFP