UNESCO. General Conference; 30th; Records ... - unesdoc - Unesco

ecord in providing professional and technical guidance in this respect is well acknowledged. We look forward to
opportunities for joint endeavours in this area. Scientific knowledge, however, must be tempered by a cultivated
morality, otherwise it can become tainted with attitudes and behaviours harmful to society. We view with deep
conviction, therefore, the systematic inculcation of these essential qualities that help strengthen the character of
young people, creating in them a world-mindedness and world-embracing vision that leaves no room for any
form of prejudice and feelings of superiority.
2.6 Madam President, it may be hard for some to believe this, but the Internet revolution has reached us
even in the islands. However, recent surveys of the use of computers, E-mail and the Internet sponsored by the
UNESCO Office for the Pacific States in April this year indicated that the development of Internet host
computers in most Pacific island countries lags well behind. Nevertheless, we perceive in this technology
immense potential for communication and educational purposes. In specific terms, we are exploring and seeking
assistance for the use of this modern technology to make education accessible to every Marshallese child. We
want to be able to make education more effective in the more remote islands. It is not an easy task, Madam
President, to implement and supervise educational programmes on thirty-three small island dots dispersed over a
million square miles of ocean! Support in this respect, including the prospect of using solar energy in conjunction
with Internet technology, could make education accessible to the vast number of school-going children residing
in rural communities disadvantaged by geographical isolation.
2.7 The importance of early childhood education is foremost among our priorities. We are embarking now
on a yet more determined initiative to expand the benefits of early childhood development and learning to all
preschool-age children in the country. This is going to be a formidable task. Nevertheless, issues relating to
resources and relevant legislation are being seriously considered. The UNESCO Regional Office in Samoa
continues to provide valuable support, particularly in the area of data-gathering and analysis. However, given the
anticipated scope of this initiative, we look forward to an expansion of UNESCO support in order to ensure that
systematic learning is progressively made available to every child.
2.8 Madam President, one precious national resource with tremendous potential that has not always been
systematically harnessed is youth. I am very happy to say that we have in our delegation to this Conference two
young representatives who are also attending the Youth Forum. I believe youth can move the world. Full of
vigour and enthusiasm, and imbued with the spirit of adventure, young people possess talents that must be
constructively exploited to the utmost. On our return, we shall embark on preparing the groundwork for a
national youth mobilization programme in which young people will teach and inspire in one another the value of
education. The initial focus will be on literacy awareness in the young populace, and will be aimed at the
realization of their capability to manage their own development using new knowledge. Let the young be fully
concerned with and involved in shaping their own future.
2.9 Madam President, education cannot go far if it is not sustained by those elements that constitute the core
of culture. One of our modest achievements in this respect is the project concerning the canoes of these islands,
the Waan Aelen in Majel, funded through the UNESCO Office for the Pacific States. This has involved the
Outrigger Canoe Building, Training and Maintenance project designed to train young Marshallese students in the
design, building and sailing of traditional and contemporary-style outrigger canoes and boats. We are determined
to ensure the preservation of our traditional knowledge and indigenous technology in oceanic navigation before
the tidal waves of modern technology, despite all its benefits, sweep it aside. We are committed to the concept of
the world cultural heritage, and the aim of this particular navigation skills project has strengthened even more our
resolve to support it.
2.10 We have been greatly encouraged by the outcome of the UNESCO conference held in Seoul, Republic
of Korea, earlier this year on vocational and technical education. The recommendations are of great relevance
and importance to us in the Marshall Islands, as I am sure they are to others. These have come at a time when we
are also in the process of overhauling our own vocational education programme in all of our high schools, and in
implementing our four-year Strategic Plan designed to improve our institutional capability in training human
resources.
2.11 The preceding issues of concern are common to most if not all of our island States in the Pacific region.
The prospects for greater regional collaboration, for more regular sharing of ideas and experience, and for
developing common approaches to many of these concerns, are therefore very good indeed.
2.12 In this era of fast-moving global change and new knowledge, we are launching a national education
summit at the end of the year 2000 to which representatives of regional and international organizations, including
and especially UNESCO, will be invited. We want to re-articulate our vision and long-term objectives,
re-examine our focus and priorities, and establish realistic policies that will help guide us well into the next
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