In a world plagued by international conflict and cultural misunderstanding, it’s encouraging to hear that the next generations of Mexican and American leaders are already benefiting from one of the most ambitious bridge-building efforts ever undertaken by their respective nations.
That would be what is coming about through coupling 100,000 Strong in the Americas, Barack Obama’s signature education initiative in the Western Hemisphere, with the Proyecta 100,000 program launched by President Enrique Peña Nieto.
“As an educator it is amazing to see how much is happening on the national and bilateral levels, and right down to our own four-state region,” explains Kathleen Guerra, Public Affairs Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Guadalajara.
The specific goal of 100,000 Strong is to swell the number of U.S. students studying in the Western Hemisphere, and vice versa, by the year 2020. The concept is to increase unique study abroad opportunities, particularly for students who don’t fit the usual mold for international exchange programs in terms of financial and social status.
On a wider scope, the initiative encompasses the broad aims of better preparing a globally aware and culturally competent workforce, enhancing hemispheric competitiveness and increasing prosperity across the board.
Obama frames it in these words: “When we study together, we learn together, we work together and we prosper together.”
Advances are being achieved through growing partnerships between government, educators and academic institutions, and the private sector.
For example, thanks to funding from Mexico’s Education Ministry (SEP), Televisa, the U.S. Embassy and Universia, close to 600 Mexican students from five of the bilingual Universidades Tecnológicas spent the fall semesters of 2014 or 2015 at community colleges in the United States.
Guerra points out that beyond allowing promising students to gain valuable knowledge for their future careers and real understanding of the U.S. way of life, the beneficiaries of these experiences become ambassadors for Mexico in small towns where interaction with Mexican people is often rare.
Through expansion of Fulbright/COMEXUS Exchange – already one of the largest programs in the world – 79 new Mexican grantees started their studies in the United States in the fall of 2015, while Mexico received 116 new U.S. counterparts.
SEP and U.S. government funding has permitted the recent placement of 60 Fullbright scholars as English teaching assistants in Mexican educational institutions, including six now assigned to Guadalajara, where last year there were none.
Boosting the quality of English instruction is a special focus in Guadalajara’s consular district, Guerra observes. Mastering the language is essential to qualifying for study exchange opportunities, and for landing well-paid jobs in the global economy.
“More hours of class time doesn’t necessarily equate to excellence. Rather it is newer and more effective methods that make a difference. We’ve found that some teachers speak excellent English but need to buff up their teaching skills. Others are good teachers who lack a strong command of English. And some fall short on both counts. Jalisco is currently conducting an assessment of a strategic approach to deal with this.”
The consulate has also fostered cross-campus exchanges so that students can arrange to attend courses of interest that are available at institutions other than the ones where they are enrolled. “It’s a ground-breaking inter-institutional consortium not seen elsewhere,” Guerra says.
In order to attract more students from abroad, the local consulate opened the door early last year with Vamos a Guadalajara, a familiarization program designed to introduce Canadian and U.S. university representatives to the area and show them that it is a culturally rich and safe place to send their students.
Another shining example of what is being accomplished through the 100,000 Strong initiative is the strategic partnership lined up between the University of South Florida, Michigan Technological University and the Universidad de Colima for an exchange program in the field of volcanology. It will permit U.S. students to come here for field-based learning experiences, while giving Mexican students opportunities to go abroad for top level study in the laboratory. The project is supported by ExxonMobil Corp.
It all sums up to bright ideas that encourage bright young people and foretell a brighter future for all people inhabiting the Western Hemisphere.