New Delhi: Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee today (Nov 10) expressed concern that economic barriers were blocking access to quality education for the masses, which was crucial for capturing the opportunities in the emerging "knowledge economy".

"The poor are right in demanding not simply 'Education For All', but 'Quality Education For All'. However, realization of this right is becoming increasingly difficult in the fast-changing economic scenario. Market forces are shaping the growth of all layers of education, including elementary education," he said inaugurating the third high-level group 'Meeting on Education For All' in New Delhi.

Observing that economic barriers preventing access to quality education for the masses had tended to rise, Vajpayee told the Education Ministers and a galaxy of dignitaries from various world bodies that the difference between the poor man's school and the rich man's school was becoming starker with each passing year.

Stung by the recent UNESCO report on education, which put India in the list of countries with a growing population of illiterates, Human Resource Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi said that India, in fact, has seen a fall in the absolute number of illiterates during 1991/2001 for the first time despite an increase in population.

PTI