Ambassador
Ambassador's Speeches
VALUE OF EDUCATION
Remarks by Ambassador Lino Gutierrez at the ICANA Seminar "Toward a Better Understanding Between Nations"
September 27, 2005
Introduction:
Thank you very much ICANA, the Universidad Católica Argentina and the Eisenhower Fellowships for inviting me to be a part of this wonderful program this evening.
I want to personally recognize the contributions of Dr. Alberto Mondet (President ICANA), Ambassador Vicente Espeche Gil (Director to the Center for International Studies at UCA), Dr. Conrado Etchebarne (Trustee Eisenhower Fellowships), and all of the distinguished speakers.
I am especially grateful to ICANA. I had the honor of addressing this seminar last year and spoke on Argentine-U.S. relations. There’s a reason I keep coming back to ICANA: I believe strongly in the work you do on behalf of our two countries. This spirit of mutual support was recently demonstrated by the overwhelming response from Argentina after the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the government and people of Argentina again for your condolences and kind offers of assistance to the United States.
What I want to focus on today is the value of education as a key ingredient in building mutual understanding between nations – the title of today’s seminar - and how the U.S. government, through its international education and academic exchange programs is contributing to this objective. I will also discuss how the President has used the Summit of the Americas as a vehicle for implementing his vision of a quality education for every child in this hemisphere.
Argentine-U.S. Relations
The United States looks forward to working with Argentina in the upcoming Summit of the Americas. Our two countries have a 182-year-old relationship, the longest bilateral bond that the U.S. has had with any Latin American country. In those 182 years, we have worked together to achieve many commendable goals, and it is my belief that we will continue to stand together.
A relationship like ours requires each of us to be both models for and supporters of one another. Even more importantly, it requires us to be partners. And we have much in common:
• Our two countries both know what it is like to be a victim of terrorist attacks. Argentina and the U.S. have been working hand in hand in the fight against terrorism.
• We both recognize the value and benefits of science and have collaborated together on many projects involving geology, meteorology, space, nuclear energy and environmental protection.
• Our shared democratic values are the most important force binding us together. Both countries are committed to democracy, and we both strongly defend it as the best system of government.
• And Argentina and the United States place a great value on education.
It is this last point that I want to highlight as education plays a central role in achieving American foreign policy goals in the region.
International Education Exchange Programs
The Department of State sponsors numerous exchange programs but in particular have made remarkable contributions to helping America reach out to the world and helping the world engage with America.
International Visitor (IV) Program
The first is the International Visitor Program. The predecessor of what is known today as the International Visitor Program began in 1940 when 130 Latin American journalists were invited to the United States in an exchange of persons program. Since that time, more than 135,000 International Visitors have traveled under the program. Over 200 of these visitors achieved the position of chief of state or head of government, and 1,500 have been cabinet ministers.
This year, we have sent more than 20 Argentine scholars to the United States to exchange ideas in their field of expertise.
Fulbright Program
The Fulbright Program, launched in 1946, has achieved similar success. Since its inception, the United States Government (USG) has spent $2.7 billion on the exchange of 250,000 U.S. and foreign participants. These students, teachers, and professionals study, teach, lecture, and conduct research in more than 150 countries.
Like the International Visitor Program, the Fulbright Program have included 32 Nobel Prize Laureates and more than 60 Pulitzer Prize winners. Alumni include heads of state, cabinet members, ambassadors, Members of Congress, judges, heads of corporations, university presidents, journalists, artists, professors and teachers.
Last year alone, the Department of State spent nearly $15 million on Fulbright academic exchanges with the Western Hemisphere, which funded the scholarships for around 1,100 students and scholars. And in Argentina this year, 178 Argentines have benefited from the Fulbright Program.
Improving Education in the Western Hemisphere
While these international exchange programs demonstrate that we have much to be proud of, we still have much work to do. Improving education in the Americas is one of our top policy goals.
As I mentioned earlier, the theme of this year’s Summit is “Creating Jobs to Fight Poverty and Strengthen Democratic Governance.” Governments do not create jobs – the private sector creates jobs. However, government has a critical role to play in setting the stage for the private sector to be able to create these jobs. Governments must provide quality education as well as vocational education, healthcare, and good democratic governance to achieve this goal.
President Bush believes that a good education is the foundation for creating economic growth, social advancement, and democratic progress. He shares this commitment to providing a quality education with many leaders in Latin America and the Caribbean who understand that education is critical to achieving hemispheric security and prosperity, in addition to addressing the real world needs of people.
The value-added that education provides is indisputable. According to the Inter-American Development Bank, recent research reveals that there is an impressive rate of return on secondary education. Also, the level of direct foreign investment is greater in countries with an educated work force. Greater investment in education can also contribute to alleviating chronic poverty among the historically dispossessed populations, giving them a greater stake in the future of their countries.
Yet assessments of education in Latin America and the Caribbean conclude that schools are simply not educating their young. Although more students than ever are enrolled in school, fewer are completing their studies. Almost half of the students who enter primary school fail to make it to the fifth grade and only about 30 percent finish secondary school, resulting in the region having the highest repetition and dropout rates in the world. This has significant economic ramifications. The region’s workforce averages less than six years of schooling, two years below world patterns and most developing country competitors. In the 1990s, the average years of school of the region’s workforce grew at a rate well below the world average and other developing countries, resulting in the region falling further behind.
Education is the best means of reducing inequality in our populations. The gap between rich and poor is the greatest source of friction in the countries of the hemisphere, and study after study concludes that the key to reducing this gap is education. It is clear that if we want progress in this hemisphere, we must guarantee a quality education for every child. We can not afford to leave any child behind.
Summit of the Americas Initiatives
President Bush has used the Summit of the Americas as a vehicle for implementing his vision of a quality education for every child in this hemisphere. Beginning with the Quebec Summit in 2001, the U.S. Government has launched several initiatives designed to demonstrate the U.S. commitment to education in the hemisphere. Several initiatives have been launched in the last few years:
• The Centers for Excellence for Teacher Training is a $20 million effort to establish regional centers for the purpose of training both teachers and those who train teachers. Thus far, these centers, run by the U.S. Agency for International Development, have been established in the Caribbean (Jamaica), the Andes (Peru), and in Central America (Honduras) and have trained around 2,000 educators.
• The Commerce Department launched an Inter-American E-Business Fellowship Program in which regional young professionals participate in training programs at top American high-tech firms. This empowers them with the skills and background to bring the benefits of these technologies to their own societies. To date, the program has graduated 46 fellows, four of whom were Argentines.
• The Department of Education has started a Civitas Latin America Program, which carries out exchanges designed to strengthen civic education in the region. Argentina is one of five countries participating in a special projects with the objective of increasing opportunities and involvement of members of groups that have traditionally been underdeveloped. The title of this special project is Project Citizen and works specifically with indigenous communities.
• And the Department of State has awarded a grant to Partners of the Americas to administer the American Fellows Program, which sponsors exchanges of outstanding civil servants to promote excellence within governments of the hemisphere. President Bush launched this program at the 2001 Quebec Summit. Funding sponsors up to 20 fellows on these three-month long exchanges. In 2004, two Argentine fellows benefited from this program and spent several weeks with the Environmental Protection Agency.
Civil Society Also Plays an Important Role
Civil society, in the forms of NGOs, also plays an important role in helping governments achieve the goals of strengthening education. Since 2001, several U.S. foundations have donated over 5.4 million dollars to support local Argentine NGOs who work towards improving the quality of education. One of the organizations that has received continuous support is Fundación Leer which focuses on strengthening children’s’ literacy skills.
Conclusion
Strengthening our investment in education is an important issue for the Summit of the Americas and is the foundation for creating economic growth, social advancement, and democratic progress. Furthermore, international exchange programs are crucial to fostering mutual understanding between countries.
Argentina and the United States have a strong agreement on this, as we both place great value on education and see the benefits it can bring to promote understanding and to create a more open-minded society.
We must work together so that our children and grandchildren live in a world with more access to education and less poverty.
Thank you.