05 May 2008
Education Summit Advances U.S. Commitment to Global Development
Meeting focuses on promoting innovative partnerships in higher education
Washington -- Partnerships among U.S. and foreign institutions of higher education, the private sector and foundations are the key to innovation and global development and can help meet growing demand for food, water, health and energy, according to participants in a two-day summit on these issues.
“Each of your institutions has an important role to play in the future of the world’s youth, particularly in countries where young people are searching for alternatives to the lure of violent extremism. Together, we can unleash a combined power to counter the purveyors of hate, to give young people hope, and to lift up impoverished communities around the globe,” Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said April 30, the second day of the Higher Education Summit for Global Development.
Rice was addressing a gathering of nearly 200 educators from 66 countries and the United States, some 40 private sector businesses, foundations and nongovernmental organizations and five U.S. Cabinet secretaries.
The summit, which focused on promoting innovative partnerships, strengthening existing relationships and sharing best practices in the areas of education and development, was convened jointly by the secretary of state, Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) Administrator Henrietta H. Fore.
Other U.S. speakers included Secretary of Energy Samuel Bodman, Secretary of Health and Human Services Michael Leavitt and Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao.
President of the Republic of Rwanda Paul Kagame was a special guest at the event.
Fore announced that USAID will provide $1 million for a total of 20 partnership-planning grants. The money will serve to create long-term collaborations between African and U.S. institutions of higher education. Collaborating with the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC), the USAID grant will help to build African university capacity for instruction and problem-solving through the Africa-U.S. Higher Education Initiative.
In addition, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded a $100,000 grant to NASULGC, to build the grant-making framework for the Africa-U.S. Higher Education Collaboration Initiative. New funding will be used for university partnerships to build agriculture education and problem-solving capacity in African universities.
Fore challenged each participant to initiate at least two new partnerships during the summit and to focus on opportunities provided by the evolving models of higher education and the new information environment. “As the modern research university enters its third century, we must consider how this model, which has served us so well, can best operate in a more global world and in a wide variety of environments,” she said.
Spellings also underscored the impact of globalization on the need to educate students on the university level and above.
“In the global knowledge economy, higher education in particular has gone from nice-to-have to a must-have, for individuals as well as for societies. We all must educate more students to higher levels than ever before -- and we need to do this in the context of the broader world. Sticking to what you know and what's inside your campus gates just doesn't cut it anymore,” she said.
She added that governments should encourage cooperation and reduce barriers to interaction among institutions. “Opportunities for students, faculty and administrators to engage inevitably lead to the discovery of common ground. Ideas start to percolate about how two campuses might come together in an area of shared interest,” Spelling said.
The educators attended 11 break-out sessions on topics ranging from technical aspects of development to public policy challenges for current and future leaders in key areas such as health, education, science, technology, innovation and entrepreneurship.
In her closing remarks, Rice said that U.S. funding for basic education programs abroad has risen from $100 million in 2000 to $694 million this fiscal year. In Africa, President Bush has launched two initiatives: The Africa Education Initiative and the Initiative to Expand Education.
“The programs reflect this administration’s belief that a quality education is vital to so many other hopes that we hold for children around the world, whether it is good health or civic participation or economic opportunity,” she said.
For more information, see education summit remarks by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, USAID Administrator Henrietta H. Fore, and Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings on the Web sites of their agencies.
Also see the USAID press release on the $1 million grant to improve education in Africa.
