Gobierno de El Salvador

BECAS FANTEL PARA EDUCACION SUPERIOR

Consorcio Educativo FANTEL

September 19, 2001

For Immediate Release

For more information, contact:
Efrén G. Mencía, Program Officer
Tel: 617-495-0462

Government of El Salvador Promotes Development through Education

Cambridge, MA -- The Ministry of Education of El Salvador has announced the creation of FANTEL, a national development effort financed with funds from the privatization of the country's telephone company, ANTEL. One component of the effort is a scholarship program, Becas FANTEL para Educación Superior. The program, which has an annual budget of 4.7 million dollars, will fund university studies at the undergraduate and graduate levels for Salvadoran citizens who have demonstrated academic promise.

In announcing the scholarship program, the Salvadoran Minister of Education, Evelyn Jacir de Lovo, emphasized the value of knowledge for emerging economies. Noting that 30% of the awards will be for study in national institutions and 70% will be for study abroad, the Minister commented, "We are placing emphasis on education abroad since knowledge is international."

The FANTEL scholarship program will be administered by an educational consortium composed of Fundación para la Educación Integral Salvadoreña (FEDISAL) of El Salvador and LASPAU: Academic and Professional Programs for the Americas. The two organizations have created a multinational partnership to manage the program, including selecting grantees, placing them in academic programs, and monitoring their progress.

The initiative complements LASPAU's previous efforts on behalf of higher education in El Salvador. In 1996, a collaborative relationship between the Harvard Graduate School of Education, LASPAU, and the Salvadoran Fundación Empresarial para el Desarrollo Educativo (FEPADE) led to the creation of one of the most extensive higher education evaluation systems in Latin America at the time. The effort was noteworthy in that the team not only provided technical support to the Salvadoran government, but also contributed to the development of a change process based upon broad social consensus, as it involved all of the sectors connected to the higher education system.

FEDISAL, a private non-profit institution, was founded in 1992 by a group of private sector leaders and Don Bosco University (a LaSalle institution) in El Salvador to foster development in El Salvador through education initiatives. FEDISAL designs and administers social projects for national and international institutions. Since its inception, it has administered a range of programs, including national scholarships to provide educational opportunities to demobilized soldiers and insurrectionists after the Peace Agreement in 1996, training for the handicapped, and job training. FEDISAL also has managed programs in curriculum design, the development of educational materials, teacher training, and the design of training for small business owners. FEDISAL's Board of Directors includes leaders of the country's private sector and members of the LaSalle community.

LASPAU is a nonprofit organization affiliated with Harvard University and governed by an independent, inter-American board of trustees. LASPAU designs and implements academic and professional programs to meet the complex social, political, and economic challenges facing the Americas. Expertise in Latin America and the Caribbean and relationships with individuals and institutions throughout the hemisphere enable LASPAU to develop customized educational programs that address the evolving needs of clients and partners. LASPAU believes in universal and equitable access to high-quality educational opportunities and is committed to expanding the ability of individuals, institutions, and societies to achieve their highest potential through education.


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