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Educational Systems Around the World Fight to Catch Up with the Internet Age

Aired September 21, 2000 - 6:13 p.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

BERNARD SHAW, CNN ANCHOR: And in the U.S., as new technology and the Internet move in to every aspect of our lives, the educational system is fighting to catch up.

CNN's Deborah Feyerick has the story from New York.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DEBORAH FEYERICK, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Eighth-graders at the Bilingual and Bicultural Middle School in Harlem are learning how math can be useful online.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK, we're going to eBay. It's worth $65.69 each. That's a lot.

ZULMA RIVAS, MIDDLE SCHOOL COORDINATOR: We're here to make them marketable. We want to make children able to go out to the workforce and be able to use the technology that's available to them.

FEYERICK: Combine technology skills with a math and science background, and these students will find more jobs than they ever dreamed possible. The reason: an acute shortage of workers specializing in information technology.

HARRIS MILLER, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY ASSOC.: We have a dramatic shortage of skilled I.T. workers. It's like running out of iron ore in the middle of the Industrial Revolution.

FEYERICK: Of the 1.6 million technology jobs created in the United States this year, computer specialists say half remain empty, a problem that will only get worse before it gets better.

LARRY WHITE, NYU SCHOOL OF BUSINESS: A decade ago, with less apparent demand, there were less people getting trained in this area. The rewards were seen as less.

FEYERICK: What's more, the U.S. school system has not been able to keep up with the Internet explosion.

MILLER: Any time you have a revolution -- and this truly is a revolution we are dealing with because of the Internet -- it's not a surprise that the education and training system can't keep up with the demand. FEYERICK: In fact, the U.S. is barely staying afloat. One study shows when it comes to math, American eighth-graders don't even rank in the top 10 countries.

MATTHEW GANDAL, ACHIEVE, INC.: What we found in these other countries is that, from the beginning, they expect students to learn more. They give them much more challenging courses and curriculum. The teachers are trained based on much more challenging standards. And lo and behold, the students achieve.

FEYERICK: Which is why the U.S. has had to import more than 100,000 computer specialists every year.

(on camera): Experts warn that, though the economy is doing well now, the United States could lose ground. And they encourage the business community, the government and educators to do more to train students in math and science, beginning as early as kindergarten.

Deborah Feyerick, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JUDY WOODRUFF, CNN ANCHOR: But even in some developing countries, officials are taking innovative steps to help people both master and benefit from the high-tech revolution.

CNN's David Compton reports on one program in Costa Rica.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DAVID COMPTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The residents of San Marcos de Tarrazu have just been introduced to modern technology. It's a trailer equipped to bring the Internet to the people of this small rural community in Costa Rica.

The trailer is also equipped to bring satellite television, a soil analysis laboratory and long distance medical consultations. Steven (ph) and Aaron (ph) visited almost every day.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): What are you studying?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Microworlds. You can look at the bugs. And you can make them bigger or smaller -- many, many things.

COMPTON: This new path to the Internet is part of the "little intelligent communities" or Lincos Project. It's sponsored by the Costa Rican Foundation for Sustainable Development, headed by former Costa Rican President Jose Maria Figueres.

JOSE MARIA FIGUERES, FMR. COSTA RICAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Some 80 percent of the world's population has no access to today's technology. And to give them access is to give them an opportunity for personal growth for something as important as education.

COMPTON: Lorina (ph) and her friends learn by playing.

LORINA, STUDENT (through translator): We've been learning about the different kinds of energy. It's fun. We make friends and they help us. We work as a group.

COMPTON: As Juan Barrios, director of the Costa Rican Foundation for Sustainable Development explains, similar trailers have already been placed in other countries and will soon expand to other parts of Costa Rica.

JUAN BARRIOS, DIR., COSTA RICAN FOUNDATION FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (through translator): We have five units in rural communities in the Dominican Republic. And we have plans to set up 35 more in Central America over the next two years, possibly starting in El Salvador.

COMPTON: Each container costs $85,000. The program also hopes to install units in Asia and Africa to contribute to the economic and social development of rural communities that otherwise would not have access to high technology.

David Compton, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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