The Brazilian Minister of Education, Fernando Haddad, and the Cape Verdean Minister of Education and Human Resource Enhancement, Filomena Martins, met Monday, August 22, to work out the details for turning Cape Verde’s first public university into a reality.
The president of the Foundation for the Improvement of University Level Personnel (Capes), professor Jorge Guimarães, also participated in the meeting. Brazil will provide technical advice and train professors for the new school.
Brazilian cooperation had already been settled during President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s visit to Cape Verde in July, 2004. The Cape Verdean government intends to train faculty for the future university in Brazil.
According to Haddad, Brazil will also send professors to Cape Verde to help train their African counterparts.
“It is a satisfaction for the Brazilian government to be able to help in the implantation of a university in Cape Verde. In the field of higher education, Brazil has an important vocation, recognized by the Portuguese-speaking countries, among others,” Haddad pointed out after the meeting.
According to Minister Martins, the model for the university has already been defined and will be based on the country’s extant establishments of higher education.
She affirmed that “the creation and the implementation of Cape Verde’s first public university constitutes, at this moment, an internal challenge that is being met through an extraordinary partnership with Brazil.”
Martins emphasized that one of her country’s major shortcomings lies in the area of post-graduation. Of the approximately 300 university professors in Cape Verde, 3% have doctorates and 21%, master’s degrees.
The president of the Capes underscored that the two countries already maintain a partnership to reduce this deficit, by means of the Post-Graduate Student Agreement Program, known as the PEC-PG.
According to Guimarães, the Capes will offer post-graduate fellowships to 20 students from Cape Verde in 2005-2006 and another 50 students in 2006-2007.
Agência Brasil