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Participants at the launch meeting of the Brazil–U.S. Partnership to Strengthen Vocational and Technical Education
(Photos by Jeanne-Marie Duval, HED)
WASHINGTON, D.C. (June 17, 2008)—On June 9–11, 2008, Higher Education for Development (HED) convened a roundtable to launch a Brazil–U.S. Partnership to Strengthen Vocational and Technical Education. Educators from U.S. community colleges and Brazilian technical education centers met at the American Council on Education to learn from each other and create a sustainable and productive collaboration between the two countries. Following the discussion, Brazilian educators are visiting U.S. community colleges. As part of a bi-national exchange, U.S. community college representatives will visit Brazilian counterparts in early September 2008 to share respective experiences.
During the roundtable, participants described the context of vocational and technical education in each country and explored the role each educational system plays in workforce development and collaboration with the local business community. Program hosts and sponsors welcoming participants included HED’s Director of Programs Jeanne-Marie Duval, Board member Maureen Budetti of the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU), Director of International Programs of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) Judy Irwin as well as officials from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. Department of State.
Roundtable participants included representatives from five U.S. community colleges and Brazilian technical education centers, known as Centro Federal de Educacào Tecnólogica (CEFET) from five regions of Brazil. These leaders share a common interest in the role of vocational and technical education in economic development and the expansion of economic opportunity for underserved populations. CEFET leaders are currently visiting a number of community colleges in the U.S.:
- CEFET Pelotas, from the South Region of Brazil, is visiting the Alamo Community College District in San Antonio, TX.
- CEFET Espiríto Santo, from the Southeast Region of Brazil, is visiting Houston Community College in Houston, TX.
- CEFET Pará, from the North Region of Brazil, is visiting Macomb Community College in Warren, MI.
- CEFET Mato Grosso, from the Midwest Region of Brazil, is visiting Northern Virginia Community College in Alexandria, VA.
- CEFET Paraíba, in the Northeast Region of Brazil, is visiting San Diego Miramar College in San Diego, CA.
The educators from Brazil will explore best practices at each U.S. community college, including collaboration between the colleges and the private sector. They will tour the college campuses, view their facilities, and meet with public and private industry leaders.
The genesis of the community college network began in April 2007 when a group of Brazilian educators visited community colleges in the United States. Two American higher education consultants visited Brazil in September and October 2007 to learn about their public federal and state systems. These visits resulted in a comparative study of “American Community Colleges and Brazilian Vocational and Technological Education” written by two U.S. and two Brazilians specialists in vocational and technological education and in community colleges.
Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Embassy in Brazil, and the Ford Motor Company with support by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) and HED, the roundtable convened a network of U.S. and Brazilian community college and technical education leaders with a track record of innovation that have a long-term interest in building sustainable, productive relationships between countries.
Higher Education for Development (HED) engages the higher education community in the U.S. and abroad for social and economic development through human and institutional capacity building. HED was established in 1992 by the six major U.S. higher education associations to expand U.S. colleges and universities’ role in global development. In support of that aim, HED manages a major program of international partnerships between U.S. higher education and overseas tertiary institutions funded primarily by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Since 1997, HED has managed more than 300 higher education partnerships in 60 countries. For more information about USAID, visit www.usaid.gov and for HED please visit http://www.HEDprogram.org.
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