Stress on education to prevent feuds

lucknow: is there any better mechanism other than arms and ammunition to deter repetition of the september 11 terrorist attacks in america or, for that matter, anywhere else in the world? yes, says prof john sedlins. cultural and educational exchange programmes between countries will be far more cheaper and effective in combating conflicts than producing bombs and tanks, he added.in fact, many americans today feel that investment in education is also an investment in homeland security, said sedlins, who is branch chief, fulbright program for north africa, the middle east and south asia department of state, washington dc. joint 'educational exercises' and 'cultural exchanges' were far better than joint military exchanges and exercises, he said while talking to the times news network on tuesday. in the state capital these days to participate in the 'mid-year review conference' of fulbright scholars in south asia, prof sedlins said: we can no longer live as isolated islands by creating barriers. the american fulbright commission selects and sponsors scholars in over 140 countries in the world to conduct studies and research by facilitating exchange programmes of academics, students and research scholars with a basic aim of promoting better mutual understanding between peoples and cultures. over 80 american 'fulbrighters', currently conducting studies in south asian countries, are taking part in the three-day conference being organised by the united states educational foundation in india and hosted by the indian institute of management lucknow. fulbright, said prof sedlins, was also running 'conflict resolution' courses for the past two years, with particular focus on solutions to conflicts ranging from cross-border, ethnic, family and even interpersonal. eight scholars from south asia, including three from india, have been selected this year to undergo such a research at the university of eastern mennonite, virginia, usa. besides studies, for full one year these scholars will also teach in american universities. prof sedlins emphasised that america being the oldest democracy and india by virtue of being the largest democracy shared many things in common in terms of multi-culturism and diversity. so it is imperative that we learn more about each other, he said. he added that american fulbrighters who were being sent to other parts of the world for studies change when they return. after studying about cultures of other countries they become more a 'global citizen' and think beyond conflicts, he said. earlier, the delegates were welcomed by prof rl raina, iiml, at the inaugural session of the conference. director iiml prof pritam singh and director usefi prof jane e schukoske also addressed the gathering. prof schukoske informed this newspaper that the usefi was created in 1950 following an agreement between the governments of india and the usa. the usefi facilitates exchange programmes between the two countries and keeps a constant vigil on the quality of academics.