FOR RELEASE
April 19, 2000

Contact:
Michelle del Valle
(202) 401-3026

Secretary Riley Delivers Address On the Global Challenges of Education in the 21st Century

Following his return from an historic visit to Asia, U.S. Secretary of Education Richard W. Riley today delivered a major policy speech on international education. While in Asia, Riley attended two unprecedented international conferences, met with world leaders, visited foreign schools and universities, and shared American progress in education.

"It was both revealing and inspiring to see the extraordinary interest in education, specifically the American experience, that each of these nations has," said Secretary Riley. "It reaffirmed my belief that the United States must have a clear and strong commitment when it comes to sharing students, teachers and methods of learning."

Riley participated in the second Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Education Ministerial Meeting in Singapore and the G-8 Education Ministers' Meeting in Tokyo and Okinawa. Among the topics discussed at APEC -- comprised of leaders from 21 diverse economies of the Pacific Rim -- were information technology, reforming education management, enhancing cooperation and exchange of people and expertise, and improving teaching systems. Riley and the Chinese Education Minister, Chen Zhili, led discussions on improving teaching systems.

At the first ever meeting of the G-8 Education Ministers, the participants discussed educational challenges in a changing society; lifelong learning and distance learning; educational innovation and information and communications technologies (ICT); and the promotion of international exchange of students, teachers, researchers and administrators. Riley and the seven other Education Ministers agreed to encourage international cooperation to reduce educational inequities in a changing society; expand opportunities for lifelong learning and distance education; support the development and application of information and communication technologies in education; and further promote the exchange of teachers, administrators and students.

The G-8 Education Ministers' Meeting was a follow-up to the G-8 Summit in Cologne, Germany last June and a precursor to the Okinawa G-8 Summit to be held in July 2000, which President Clinton is scheduled to attend. At the 1999 Summit, G-8 Leaders, including President Clinton, adopted the Cologne Charter on Education. The Charter emphasized the key role education plays in economic, political and social development and recommended increasing investments in education and training.

During his stop in China, Riley and Minister Chen Zhili signed a four-year agreement aimed at broadening educational exchange programs between the United States and China. The exchange programs cover all academic areas, including the humanities, natural sciences, and social sciences. The agreement also sets guidelines for the bilateral exchanges of groups and individuals, including research scholars, teachers, lecturers, graduate students and administrators. In 1998-99, Chinese students in the U.S. numbered 51,001, an 8.6 percent increase over the previous year. In comparison, U.S. exchange students studying in China in 1997-98 only numbered 2,116, less than 2 percent of U.S. students studying abroad yet an increase of 30 percent from the previous year.

In Thailand, Secretary Riley met with the Minister of Education and several other government leaders and discussed a broad range of topics including ways to improve the quality of instruction in math, science and technology; strengthening the skills of teachers and other educational personnel; English language teaching; special education; school-business partnerships; and continuing exchange programs for students and scholars.

Since 1993, Secretary Riley has hosted over 50 education leaders from around the world in efforts to strengthen collaboration and partnerships in education with these countries.