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Assistant Secretary Goli Ameri and Ambassador Earl Anthony Wayne Announce Launch of English Access Microscholarship Program for Argentine Youth

Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs Goli Ameri and U.S. Ambassador to Argentina Earl Anthony Wayne announced on June 3 the launch of the English Access Microscholarship Program in Argentina, expanding the Embassy’s youth programs. A $250,000 investment by the U.S. Department of State will allow the Embassy to fund up to one thousand scholarships for Argentine youth throughout the country to study English as a second language.

Assistant Secretary of State Goli Ameri with Masters and Young Leaders Seminar grantees who will travel to the United States this year.
IN THE MEDIA
::	Clarin.com (Spanish)
::	La Prensa (Spanish)
::	impulso baires (Spanish)

Assistant Secretary Ameri visited Argentina from June 1 to June 3, 2008, where she met with Argentine government officials, teachers, women leaders, senior educators, students and private sector representatives in an effort to increase education and cultural cooperation between Argentina and the United States. On June 2, Ameri and Ambassador Wayne met with Minister of Education Juan Carlos Tedesco to discuss the importance of learning a second language as a means to improve individual and professional development. She also met with Buenos Aires Minister of Culture Hernan Lombardi to discuss the city’s plans for its bicentennial celebration and areas of future cooperation in culture and the arts. Assistant Secretary Ameri and Ambassador Wayne attended a girls’ soccer clinic offered by prominent American coach Anson Dorrance, who was brought to Argentina by the U.S. Embassy to initiate a women’s soccer sports exchange.

Accompanied by Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Academic Programs Tom Farrell, Assistant Secretary Ameri also met with a number of Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) exchange alumni and current participants. Those included U.S. English Teaching Assistants in Argentina, as well as participants in the Foreign Language Teaching Assistant Program, the Teacher (Administrator) Exchange Program, the U.S. Institute and Leadership Training for Student Leaders in Delaware and Amherst, the Fusion Arts Exchange Program, and Masters Degree candidates who traveled from various provinces to meet with her. The exchange participants and alumni highlighted their knowledge and experiences gained from their exchange and particularly how the experience in the United States infused their work with a more positive outlook as to possibilities in their own disciplines, and how their continued networking with colleagues in other countries reinforced new approaches and best practices that were transforming not only their own work but also their entire communities.

In addition, at a reception hosted by Ambassador Wayne for over 120 Fulbright alumni, Assistant Secretary Ameri met each of the new Masters and Young Leaders Seminar grantees who will travel to the United States in the coming months. She encouraged them to consider their mentoring responsibilities when they return to Argentina so that others might benefit from their professional training and exchange opportunities.

During a lunch with university directors, hosted by the Ambassador, the Assistant Secretary and Deputy Assistant Secretary Farrell discussed an on-line English language initiative and emphasized the importance of encouraging Argentine students to take part in exchange opportunities in the United States. Farrell discussed the support provided by the State Department and the U.S. Embassy for student advising services at the Fulbright Commission and the binational centers in Argentina, as well as the availability of Opportunity Grants to assist needy students with testing and application fees, to enable them to take full advantage of exchange opportunities. In a luncheon with Argentine women leaders in government, business and the NGO community, Ameri, Farrell and Ambassador Wayne discussed the benefits of women mentoring programs and how such programs might operate in Argentina.

Assistant Secretary Ameri’s presence in Argentina was covered extensively by the major national media. She was interviewed by American TV, several radio stations and La Nacion newspaper.

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