In the Pursuit of Equitable Access to Educational Resourses

   Boao Consultative Meeting 

 on Education Cooperation for Asia

Cao Guoxing 

Good morning ladies and gentlemen.

It is my great honor to have been invited once again by Education Forum for Asia to come together with colleagues from education circles from around the world to discuss international exchange and cooperation in education.

At the conference today are government and embassy officials responsible for international educational and cultural exchange, as well as experts and scholars researching issues in Asian education.  Also in attendance are friends who pay particular attention to and offer ongoing support for exchange and collaboration in the Asia region.  First, please allow me on behalf of the Chinese Ministry of Education, Department of International Cooperation and Exchange to welcome you all here today.

If I am not mistaken, Dr. Ethel Agnes Valenzuela, Director for International Affairs, Commission on Higher Education of the Philippines and I both attended the Consultative Meeting on Education Cooperation for Asia here last year.  Therefore, if there are no objections, I propose that Dr. Valenzuela and I co-chair this year’s meeting.  Let us all give her a warm welcome.

(I would ask Dr. Valenzuela to please join me at the head of the table.  I will chair the first part of the meeting.  After the break, Dr. Valenzuela will act as chair.  We will both make closing remarks at the end of the meeting.)

In order to give you a better understanding of the goals and direction of this year’s meeting, allow me to briefly introduce the main points of last year’s meeting.

Delegates from 16 countries in the Asia Pacific region took part in last year’s Consultative Meeting on Education Cooperation for Asia.  Also at the meeting were representatives from countries around the world who have an acute interest in the development of education in Asia.  Through an effective exchange of ideas, in the spirit of cooperation and international communication, representatives reached a consensus on four significant points and also reached agreement on the five fundamental topics of discussion for this year’s meeting. 

The four significant points from the 2004 meeting are as follows:

1.       Everyone expressed the collective desire to strengthen and promote educational exchange and cooperation, while sharing the belief that the Consultative Meeting was an effective means of achieving that goal.

2.       It was agreed that due to the interdependency of today’s world, each country must pay particular attention to the cultivation and exchange of talented individuals, and that this task can be accomplished by advancing and strengthening international exchange and cooperation in education.

3.       Delegates expressed the desire to promote an increase in the number of students studying abroad.  Also of the utmost importance is to strive towards improvements in the quality of student and the overall quality of post-secondary education.

4.       It is also our hope that this Consultative Meeting can exist side by side with other such meetings and forums.  Through various means of communication, frequent meetings, and a variety of approaches, we can effectively promote international exchange and cooperation in Asian education with mutually beneficial results.

At the last meeting, also decided upon were the five topics of discussion for this year’s meeting: 

1.        The problem of authenticating and assessing the quality of higher education including academic credentials and degrees.

2.        How to increase and expand the number of study abroad students, especially high-level students, in an effort to create greater exchange and cooperation among talented individuals.  We will also explore ways to increase cooperation between education institutions and private enterprises.

3.        Strengthening information sharing, especially regarding the improvement of curriculum design, education in disadvantaged regions, and the overall quality of education in Asia.  Particular attention will be paid to shortening the distance between education systems in Asian countries, as well as between Asian countries and the rest of the world.

4.        Explore ways to strengthen the education service trade within the framework of the WTO, while promoting the development of community-run and private schools.

5.        Explore exchange and cooperation among vocational and technical schools.

All participants in the 2004 Boao Consultative Meeting on Education in Asia agreed that the meeting was an effective platform for exchange and cooperation among countries of the Asia Pacific region, realizing our original intention of “Building Bridges for Asian Education.”

It is my hope that this meeting to be a true roundtable discussion based on the principles of equality and mutually beneficial exchange.  Using the abovementioned topics as guidelines, we will explore in depth the issues facing Asian education, share our knowledge and experience, as well as offer our opinions and ideas.  We will do so in the hope that we may collectively improve, develop, and succeed in the future.

As a way to assist, and hopefully inspire, other Asian countries and regions, I would like to briefly introduce to you some of the measures the Chinese Ministry of Education has implemented this year in our ongoing efforts to increase information sharing, solve the problems of inequality in educational development among different regions, and to allow those students from the countryside and other remote, disadvantaged areas to enjoy superior educational resources.

It is well know that at this time, China is still primarily an agricultural nation.  Education, particularly in the countryside, is both a focal point and a challenge, especially in the primary and middle schools in the central and western parts of the country.  There are presently 530,000 primary and middle schools small towns and villages.  This comprises 88% of all primary and middle schools.  Students attending these schools number 162,000,000, 81% of the total number in the country.  There is a significant distance between these disadvantaged regions and the more developed areas with regards to learning conditions, educational resources, quality of instruction, and overall quality of education.  In order to solve this problem, we proposed to put into action a modern long-term education project.  In September 2003, the State Council held the National Rural Education Conference, at which they presented an article concerning the decision made by the State Council to further strengthen work in rural education. The article expressed the necessity to implement a modern distance education project in primary and secondary schools, to promote the sharing of high quality education resources between urban and rural areas, and to raise the overall quality of education in rural areas. It also put forth that, based on the results achieved in model schools in 2003, within 5 years, we could realistically reach goals including providing rural primary schools with computer-equipped classrooms and multi-media educational software, and building teaching sites with the capacity to receive satellite television transmissions in rural secondary schools.

In 2003 and 2004, the Ministry of Education, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Finance worked together to set a positive example of modern distance learning and to implement the project in model primary and secondary schools in rural areas.  At this point, we have already achieved great success, accumulated a great deal of experience, and more importantly we have attracted the attention of all levels of government which has resulted in an atmosphere of concern and support for the project across the entire society.

Currently, we are implementing the project through three main models.  The first is to create a media center with the capacity to utilize educational software and DVDs.  The equipment necessary includes televisions, DVD players, and the software.  Taking the cost of training into consideration, the average cost of building such a media center would require an investment of 3000 yuan.  The second model involves constructing a site that can receive satellite television.  Such a site would require a satellite system, computers, television sets, DVD players, and educational software appropriate for grades 1-6.  By means of the China Education Satellite Broadband Network, the capacity to utilize educational software most certainly exists.  Each site would require an investment of approximately 16,000 yuan.  The third model involves building computer-equipped classrooms.  Necessary equipment includes a satellite receiver, Internet access, multi-media equipment, and CD/DVD equipment.  Not only will the project provide valuable learning equipment, but also access to the World Wide Web learning environment.  Implementing each of the three plans in a school would, on average, incur a cost of approximately 150,000 yuan.  This project makes “equitable access to educational recourses” a reality.  Many middle school principles in the countryside say, “Nothing can stop the rapid pace of development in rural education”   It can be said with certainty that, “  The implementation of a modern distance learning project promotes the overall modernization of education and has a significant, positive effect on the equitable development of urban and rural education。”

In closing, I would like to again express my thanks to the sponsor of this conference, Education Forum for Asia.  I very much like to see it become a platform for Ministries of Education from all Asian countries to communicate with each other, explore the issues about which we are all concerned, and create new, effective channels for collaboration and exchange.  At the same time, I would like to welcome countries from around the world that care about and support Asian education to take part in our forum.

Let us work together to promote the swift, equitable development of Asian education as we build a more peaceful and prosperous Asia!

Thank you.