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| FOR RELEASE
November 29, 2000 |
CONTACT: Roberta
Heine (202) 401-3026 |
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Remarks
as prepared for delivery by U.S. Secretary
of Education The State Department Washington, D.C. |
Thank you, David Walker.
I am delighted to hear about your activities with the model U.N. A couple
of weeks ago, during International Education Week, I visited with model U.
N. students at Wilson High School here in Washington. I saw them go through
a simulated U. N. session. And it reaffirms for me the importance of international
education.
I want to thank you, Secretary Albright, for putting together this grand celebration.
And I want to thank everyone here tonight, because you are the leaders who
are making international education a reality.
On behalf of the Department of Education, I also want to thank Secretary Albright
and the team here at the State Department for being such wonderful partners
during International Education Week. Our Departments worked together to organize
many successful events, and my people have been raving about your people -
your enthusiasm, your skill, and your seriousness of purpose.
As Secretary Albright mentioned, our Departments are also working together
to implement the President's Directive on International Education.
That directive asks us to promote student and teacher exchanges; to strengthen
foreign language study at every level; to work with colleges and universities
to make international education an integral part of undergraduate education;
and to advance new technologies to aid the spread of knowledge around the
world.
I want to assure everyone that the president's directive has not become one
of those initiatives that is launched with great fanfare, and then quickly
forgotten. We are taking our mission very seriously, and we have been working
with educators, business leaders, government leaders, and others to develop
real plans to achieve the president's goals. We will issue a detailed report
on those plans by the end of the year. Some of you in the audience may be
working with us on this report, and I thank you so much for that.
We have made international education a top priority for many reasons. We Americans
have much to share with others about "what works" in education, and much to
learn from others. In addition, America's schools are more diverse than ever
before, so our young people have a real need to learn about other languages
and cultures.
I firmly believe that a America that is "worldly wise" will be more likely
to avoid conflicts and form the international friendships that we need to
build a more prosperous, more peaceful, and more democratic world.
To help achieve these goals, I have asked every elementary and secondary school
in America to establish classroom-to-classroom connections with schools from
other countries, using technology and the Internet to do it. I have called
for more dual-immersion schools to help children learn English and another
language. We currently have 260 such schools in the U. S., and I'd like to
see that number grow to 1,000. The president and I have asked Congress for
funds to help achieve this.
I have also asked our colleges and universities to encourage many more students,
teachers, and scholars to participate in exchange programs. Currently, America
receives far more students and teachers from abroad than we send abroad, and
we must improve our "negative student exchange balance of trade."
My friends, as secretary of education, I've had the chance to visit many other
nations, and I can tell you that the people of the world are more education-minded
than ever before. All responsible leaders know that the fate of their nation
is linked to education. This is a great awakening that is long overdue. There
are 135 million children in the world who do not get any schooling at all.
And about 800 million adults cannot read or write.
This is a great challenge, but it is also a great opportunity. We can use
the Information Age to make unprecedented progress and lift educational levels
throughout the world to heights we've only dreamed of. The tools are there
to do it for the first time in human history.
Now it is up to us. As Gandhi once said, "We must be the change we wish to
see in the world." I want to thank Secretary Albright and all of you for embodying
change, and for bringing the priceless gift of education to every corner of
the earth. Thank you all very much.