Global Policy Forum

By Jay Newton-Small

Early this week Australia and the World Bank announced the launching of a joint distance education initiative. The Australian government pledged $100 million, adding to the $650 million the World Bank has already earmarked over five years for long distance learning.

The announcement was made by Alexander Downer, Australia's minister for foreign affairs and a member of parliament, and John Wolfensohn, the director of the World Bank, during Wolfensohn's visit to Sydney. "Access to education and information is crucial to the development process and this initiative will focus on providing access that is affordable and widespread. The choice can no longer be between meeting basic needs and adopting advanced technology. Instead, developing countries need and deserve both," Downer said.

Australia is highly advanced in the area of virtual education. Roughly the same size as the continental United States, 80 percent of its relatively tiny population of 17 million live in urban areas. But the other 20 percent is spread thinly across thousands of miles; some families live on farms the size of Massachusetts. In the pre-Internet world students would sometimes fly hundreds of miles every morning to go to school. Now children can videoconference with their teachers from home. The same system could be used to educate children in poorer countries that lack access to teachers and information. In congratulating the Australian Government for joining forces with the World Bank, Wolfensohn stressed his belief that the work of bringing knowledge and information to developing countries "is as important as - if not more important than - capital as an engine of economic development.

"The choice can no longer be between meeting basic needs and adopting advanced technology. Instead, developing countries need and deserve both," Downer said. "Australia is conversant with numerous languages, possesses expertise in many areas of knowledge, and boasts state-of-the art technological ability - a compelling combination for delivering skills, education and training to a developing world where we can expect an extra two billion people in the next 25 years. This is a fantastic leadership role for Australia to take in helping to overcome the global poverty challenge," said Wolfensohn.

Wolfensohn went on to praise Australia as a regional leader, and for taking a leadership role in virtual education, saying he was personally delighted. "This is an initiative that all Australians can be proud of in providing new opportunities for helping to meet the poverty challenge," he said. The program is named for the Colombia plan, the world's oldest program of cooperation between nations focused on economic and social development. Australia is one of the seven founding members of the Colombia plan that has, in the past 50 years, provided thousands of scholarships for students to study in Australia and provided technical assistance and exchange to developing countries. The virtual plan is named for the Colombia Plan in honor of its 50th anniversary.

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