'Deprivation of access to quality education is a major factor contributing to the social marginalisation, poverty and dispossession of indigenous peoples,' says John Henriksen, chairperson of the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

'The content and objective of education in some instances contributes to the eradication of their cultures, languages and ways of life,' he adds.

According to the report, conflicts in African countries such as Burundi, Rwanda and Sudan are directly liked to the lack of educational opportunities to young people.

The most discriminated against of all tend to be poor girls living in rural areas who belong to a minority community. In Guatemala, for example, only four percent of 'extremely poor' indigenous girls attend school by the age of 16, says the report.

Globally, more than half of out-of-school girls have never been to school and might never go to school without additional incentives. The report finds that reducing the gender gap paves the way to a more democratic, balanced and stable society.

In 1990, representatives of 155 countries and over 150 organisations pledged to ensure education for all by the year 2000 during the World Conference on Education for All organised by Unesco. Their intention was that children, youth and adults would 'benefit from educational opportunities designed to meet their basic learning needs'.

Though the declaration brought about a paradigm shift in the rigid, prescriptive education system in the world, the apathy towards the poor and marginalised still prevelant in most of the countries, says the report.

MRG is a non governmental organisation working to secure the rights of ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and indigenous peoples worldwide.