Fernandez in El Salvador

[NewsWhore]

During his speech at the XVIII Ibero-American Heads Of State Conference being held in El Salvador, President Leonel Fernandez said that the biggest challenge for young people in Central America is education. Fernandez says that in the Latin American context education is only referenced as a percentage of national GDP and nothing else. According to Fernandez, spending on education below 4% of the GDP is insufficient and there is no future with that model. The DR currently allocates just 2.3% of its GDP towards education. Fernandez added that teaching children how to think should be the basic element of 21st century education. "The fundamental problem in our countries is that our children haven't been taught to think, but to memorize text, which they don't always understand." Fernandez also urged his counterparts not to get caught up in "apocalyptic visions" that have surfaced in reaction to the international financial crisis. He is urging Latin American countries to work together to make the most of the "revolution" that is taking place. Fernandez says these are precarious times and that Latin American nations are experiencing uncertainty. Commenting on the US financial crisis, Fernandez said that the markets have yet to react to a bailout package of close to US$1 trillion.

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