US Secretary of Education Says Higher Education Key to Development in Africa | Voice of America - English
U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings is in Kigali this week promoting partnerships between American and African universities.  The goal is to use higher education to drive development in Africa.  For VOA, Thomas Rippe reports from Kigali.U.S.
U.S. Secretary ofEducation Margaret Spellings says higher education is vital to thefuture development of Africa. She says Africa needs highly trainedprofessionals to take on issues such as poverty, hunger and health. "Webelieve we cannot be effective in solving development challenges likethose we face in health care and other ways without tacklingeducation," she said. "It is such a fundamental building block todevelopment." Secretary Spellings is in Rwanda this week to openthe Africa Regional Higher Education Summit. The summit will bringtogether representatives from universities around the United States andAfrica. The focus is on partnerships in higher education, foodsecurity, economic growth and health. Current projects are drivingeconomic development in Nigeria and public health in Rwanda. Also attending the summit are high-profile donors from around the world. IqbalNoor Ali is the CEO of the Aga Khan Foundation USA. He agrees withSecretary Spellings on the importance of higher education fordevelopment. "How else are you going to grow the strongleadership that this continent, or any other part of the developingworld, needs? Leaders in government, leaders in business, leaders incivil society," said Noor Ali. "If you stop at just primary andsecondary education you are not equipping people with the skills, theknowledge, the tools necessary for their own growth." Noor Alisays the Aga Khan Foundation has been working with the U.S. governmenton various programs, including education, for the past 25 years. Hesays his foundation is active in Africa because it believes in thepromise and potential of the continent. Belief in the potentialof Africa is shared by many of those at the conference. SecretarySpellings says U.S. government investment represents only one ninth ofall American investment in Africa. She says that when Americaninstitutions invest in Africa they want something back, and that is agood sign. "U.S. higher institutions have some element ofself-interest," she said. "They see this as a placethat is worth investing in, worth coming to. I think their actionsspeak volumes." One of those institutions is Tulane University in New Orleans. In2000 Tulane established a partnership with the National University ofRwanda to train professionals in public health. The project received agrant from the American Embassy in Rwanda, and every year USAIDprovides scholarships to 10 students to attend the school. Tulane'ssenior staff member at the School of Public Health in Kigali, JoshuaRodd, explains the school helps doctors expand their thinking fromindividual patients to broader social issues. "These wereexcellent doctors, but they did not really have any public healthbackground," he said. "So now all of a sudden they are responsible forthe health of several-hundred-thousand people. It is not just apatient they are treating in front of them. They have to think in anentirely new way about health." One of those doctors is JeanineCondo. As a physician she was treating HIV-positive children who weremalnourished. But each time she treated a child she knew the childwould have to come back for more treatment. She says she wastreating the symptoms, but not the root of the problem. But at theSchool of Public Health she is able to create programs that address theroot. "I also work with other NGOs in Rwanda," said Condo. "Idesigned a program where all HIV-positive kids will benefit with food. I helped them in developing training manuals that they are using nowand the counseling cards they are using now. Half of the healthcenters in Rwanda, around 200 centers, they are using the cards." Onequestion that many here are asking is how the upcoming election in theUnited States will affect these programs. But Cheryl Sim, the Charged'Affairs of the U.S. Embassy in Rwanda, is confident the momentum willcontinue. "I see an energy and a commitment to this whole thrustand this whole approach that I have not seen previously in my career,"said Sim. "So you have that kind of bureaucratic energy. That willalso carry through a transition and into the next administration." Anotherquestion some are asking is why focus so much on higher education whenso many countries are struggling with their primary and secondaryeducation. Secretary Spellings says that most of the focus was onprimary education, but through experience she has learned that it isreally higher education that makes a difference. "I think wehave all realized that we will be much more effective at meeting ourneeds in primary and secondary education if and when we build capacityand engagement in our post-secondary system," she said. "That is whereteachers are trained. That is where technologies are incubated." TheHigher Education Summit is trying to create a ripple effect. Americaninstitutions train people like Jeanine Condo, who is currently alecturer at the School of Public Health in Kigali. Some of thosestudents are themselves university lecturers, who will widen the circleby passing on their knowledge to their students.