RAMALLAH, March 4, 2009, (WAFA)- The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced, today, a new educational program that her country will sponsor, alongside with continuing to support other programs already in place, aiming at serving Palestinian students.

Clinton, who started, this morning, her visit to the Palestinian Territory by holding a meeting with Prime Minister Salam Fayyad at his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, said that “for the Palestinian State to be prosperous and accountable to its people and be able to live up to its obligations to the international community, it must have more people who can do the job in the 21^st century.”

“Our commitment is that we will do whatever we can do to help the next generation of Palestinian leaders to take advantage of the opportunities that we will work for achieving,” she added.

The head of the US diplomacy was addressing local and American journalists, at the office of America-Mideast Educational and Training Services (AMIDEAST) in Ramallah, minutes after she met young Palestinian students who are enrolling in a US funded English teaching program (Access), a while before she moved to the presidential compound in the city to hold discussions with President Mahmmoud Abbas.

The new US support for educational opportunities for Palestinian students, as Clinton announced, will mainly be translated into providing funds for “YES” program, a new program that will enable Palestinian students to enroll in full four year programs at eligible Palestinian universities, and provide grants for Palestinian students interested in studying in American universities.

Clinton also mentioned the importance of education to any prosperous and successful society and “it will be essential to our shared efforts to work toward the two-state solution, so that Palestinians will be able to live in their own state, with their own educational institutions, including their four year universities.”

She considered that these efforts along with the educational programs already in place are vital to the larger goals outlined by President Abbas and Prime minister Fayyad in Egypt earlier this week.

“I just had the great privilege of meeting and talking to students taking part in the English Access program. The United States government is proud to sponsor this program, and AMIDEAST does an excellent job managing it here,” said Clinton.

 “And I want to commend all of Access participants, for being part of this and seizing the opportunity. There were 8000 applicants of whom 1000 were selected, so it is a real tribute to this program and to these young people, but also demonstrates the extraordinary desire on the part of the young people to learn more and extend their own opportunity,” She added.

Secretary Clinton continued on saying that there are 54 programs around the world, and many of these students come form families who couldn’t afford this kind of educational experience, are not only able to have English language training, but also artistic expression, cultural enrichment  and other activities.

She also said that, historically, the Palestinian people had put a great premium on education. “We know from our own country that Palestinian Americans are leaders in science, art, medicine, business, literature and academia, and we hope to see the same opportunity … right here”

Clinton ended her statement by expressing her pride to meet the students at AMIDEAST, and by thanking the people of the United States who are sponsoring this program.