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NewsWhore
11-14-2011, 04:00 PM
President Leonel Fernandez hosted the former presidents of Mexico, Ernesto Zedillo and Uruguay, Julio Maria Sanguinetti in Santo Domingo over the weekend to discuss the world economic crisis. The former presidents were panelists in a discussion on Global Crisis and its Impact in Latin America and the Caribbean at the Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (Funglode) auditorium.

The statesmen were in the Dominican Republic for the Vidanta Foundation Awards. The winners of the awards were: Desarrollo Autogestionario, A. C. (AUGE) from Mexico (US$100,000), CE-Mujer from the Dominican Republic (US$75,000) and the Association for Valuing People with Disabilities (AVAPE) from Brazil (US$50,000).

Together with the Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary General (SEGIB) the Foundation awards the annual Vidanta Foundation Prize in order to recognize and support outstanding work carried out in Latin America and the Caribbean to reduce poverty and inequality and combat discrimination. In addition, the award seeks to promote humanitarian values and solidarity in the general population as well as philanthropy and corporate social responsibility.

As reported in Hoy, the issue of education was brought up during the discussions. Former President Zedillo of Mexico argued that guaranteeing quality was of utmost important, and that more resources do not ensure this. He was referring to a local campaign for the Fernandez government to comply with the Education Law that establishes 4% of GDP for education.

Former President Sanguinetti concurred. He argued that the US invests more in education than Finland, but its students have poorer results. He said that teachers' unions should play a greater role in fostering quality instead. President Leonel Fernandez stated that what is important is to achieve quality education and then see how much it costs.

According to the World Economic Forum, the Dominican Republic is one of the countries in Latin America with the lowest level of investment and quality in public education. It is also the country with the highest level of wasteful spending in government.

www.hoy.com.do/el-pais/2011/11/12/401356/La-educacion-domina-dialogo-entre-lideres-sobre-crisis-global (http://www.hoy.com.do/el-pais/2011/11/12/401356/La-educacion-domina-dialogo-entre-lideres-sobre-crisis-global)

http://www.weforum.org/reports/global-competitiveness-report-2011-2012

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