MoU with U.S. varsity on basic education

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, MAY 25. The University of Pennsylvania (Philadelphia) in the U.S. today signed an MoU with the State Department of Education for giving a fillip to basic education over a period of five years.

Prof. Daniel A. Wagner, Director of the Penn Graduate School of Education, signed the MoU with the Secretary for Education, Mr. R.N. Sastry in the presence of the Chief Minister, Mr. S.M. Krishna. The Minister for Primary and Secondary Education, Mr. H. Vishwanath, and the Minister of State for Higher Education, Dr. G. Parameswar, were present on the occasion.

Under the agreement, the American university will provide the State with a sum of $5 million under the programme known as the "Bridge to the Future Initiative". The university has taken up similar programmes in Mexico and South Africa. It will be launched here on September 1. The Indira Gandhi Open University and the Karnataka State Open University will be involved.

Mr. Sastry said that with the assistance of the University of Pennsylvania, programmes such as teacher training, vocational and adult education, and the spread of literacy would be taken up. The university would be providing $2.5 million in the first year itself.

Prof. Wagner said that the programme they wanted to launch suited Karnataka. The university was adopting modern communication technology in Mexico and South Africa.

The Chief Minister noted that Indo-American collaboration in the field of education dated back to the mid-Forties. The Fulbright Scholarship programme had in the past enabled the exchange of students and professors. The thrust in the field of education in the State was on basic, secondary and adult education. Karnataka had envisaged increasing the level of literacy in the State from the current 67 per cent to 80 per cent in the next four years. Mr. Krishna also hoped that the officials and even ministers of the State would be able to match the sense of mission that informed the University of Pennsylvania's initiative.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : Chairpersons soon for academies
Next     : Portfolios after Cabinet expansion