In the Asia-Pacific region education reform must quicken if it's to keep pace with rapid globalization, the head of a major non-governmental organization (NGO) said yesterday.

 

"The inter-connected nature of the world, the world economy and citizenship demands that we actually respond to these changes," Vishakha Desai, president of the Asia Society, said at a press conference in Beijing. "Education provides common ground for us to work together to respond," she observed.

 

Desai was visiting the city for the opening ceremony of the Asia-Pacific Forum on Education. The event is co-hosted by the Asia Society and the China Education Association for International Exchange.

 

The three-day forum will highlight both problems and opportunities in education across the region. It brings together over 50 education leaders, scholars and innovators for an exchange of ideas and development of joint projects to promote students' global knowledge and skills.

 

Desai also compared education systems currently being adopted by different countries. "Asian leaders need to greatly expand access to education and transform their systems to prepare their students for the more entrepreneurial, creative and knowledge-intensive jobs of the global economy," she said. Desai noted the education inequality that exists in some developing countries in the Asia-Pacific region.

 

"Young people growing up today in China, India and other developing countries have an unprecedented opportunity to produce wealth and solve business and social problems in the years ahead," she added.

 

(China Daily November 15, 2006)