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The Times

November 1, 1993, Monday

International partnership

BYLINE: Richard Margrave

SECTION: Features

LENGTH: 586 words

Richard Margrave looks at links between commerce and education

Business education partnerships can have their limitations. In the days preceding Boris Yeltsin's decision to storm the Russian Parliament building, Edward Dneprov, the president's close adviser and education minister, was in Britain to present a paper on the progress of education reform in the Russian Federation.

Not knowing from one minute to the next when the call would come from Moscow, Dr Dneprov did an admirable job, coolly detailing the support for education reform that international business and the World Bank is offering. But, four days before the army moved on the White House, he was recalled. Business education partnerships gave way to the urgent reality of political survival.

However, the issue was only temporarily shunted from the top of Dr Dneprov's agenda. As Russians try to transform society by rebuilding their education system exorcising communism from schools and the curriculum, jettisoning the the strictures of totalitarianism for values of personal freedom and self-expression the scale of the task ahead ensures a leading role for business.

The government knows that it cannot afford to complete the process single-handed. But it is not courting the multi-nationals and their money for a marriage of convenience. Many of the new politicians are anxious to foster an entrepreneurial culture in the young. They positively welcome into schools the know-how of experienced practitioners in the dark arts of capitalism. Already, the Soros Foundation, the charity of the international speculator George Soros, has financed the multi-million dollar publication of more than 200 new text books to match the new curriculum. The World Bank, once the symbol of Western imperialism, has also provided considerable assistance.

Russia is not alone in recognising the importance of links between business and education. Recently, more than 30 policy makers and experts from countries as diverse as South Africa, Norway, Ethiopia and the Philippines met to pool their experience of education-business links. The 1993 Oxford Round Table on Education Policy was attended by education ministers, academics, state government representatives from America, agencies such as the World Bank and the Prince of Wales Business Leaders Forum, as well as multinationals, including the Apple Corporation, Boeing, BP and Honeywell.

The strongest theme of the conference was the recognition that the central issue confronting all nations is how to respond to the new global economy. Inevitably, countries start from different points. America is a role model and pioneer, where the place of business in the classroom is regarded as natural.

However, representatives from developed nations were markedly less optimistic about the future than those from the developing world. The confidence and vitality at the forum of countries such as the Congo and the Philippines was founded on the recognition that the creation of a well-educated workforce is the key to leaping forward.

Dr Dneprov described the system in the former Soviet Union as having been grey and black. His task now was to introduce colour to the map. He regards the international business community as a vital resource on his palette.

The author was a participant in the 1993 Oxford Round Table. He is head of press and public relations for the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, and a former shadow cabinet adviser on education policy.