By: Malak Hasan
RAMALLAH, October 16, 2014 (WAFA) - Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs (ECA) Evan Ryan Thursday said that she doesn’t anticipate any direct effect on Palestinian Fulbright scholars if the $30.5 million cut to the Fulbright Program proposed by Barack Obama’s US Administration is adopted.
Ryan told WAFA that the US government is extremely committed to Palestinians and their partnership. She reiterated that maintaining the relationship both diplomatically and through people to people, is a commitment the US government wishes to uphold.
According to the Save Fulbright Organization, Obama proposed reductions of the Fulbright estimated at $30.5 million and another cut targeting the Citizen Exchange also proposed by Obama of around $13.5 million.
Students from around the world, including Palestinians
protested the proposal as this program is considered “the United States’
flagship international exchange program” which targets about 3000 Palestinian
students alone, according to Ryan.
Maha Thaher, Fulbright Scholar 2013-2015 said, “I love the Fulbright program because it gathers a great number of exceptional individuals from around the world. Ultimately it is creating the largest network of exceptional professionals.”
She commented when asked about the possible reductions, “With more people involved in the program, there will be more diverse ideas, opinions, and values which make any exchange program a better one. So even if the number of Palestinian students who are granted the scholarship remains the same, their experience will be affected by lacking wonderful individuals from other countries.”
Meanwhile, Ryan, who is on an official trip that includes London, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Muscat, Kuwait City, and Oviedo, said that the main reason for visiting Ramallah is to ensure that Palestinians understand the US government’s commitment to them.
She met with exchange programs' Alumni in the West Bank and conducted a video conference with Gaza exchange Alumni.
Ryan said that the US's commitment to the students of Gaza is reflected through the $212 million, pledged by Secretary of State John Kerry during the Cairo Conference to reconstruct Gaza following the latest Israeli war, which will target infrastructure. She confirmed that the educational sector receives support as this is her main interest.
Regarding plans to address difficulties faced by students in Gaza who often find themselves unable to travel through the borders to study abroad on foreign scholarships, Ryan said such incidents are studied on a case by case basis.
However she affirmed that there are many of people involved in working to help students reach the US to study on scholarships.
Ryan later met with around 30 English access students in the AMIDEAST office in Ramallah, a leading American non-profit organization engaged in international education, training and development activities in the Middle East and North Africa, and discussed multiple issues with them such as their gains and experiences in learning the English language through the many US funded programs.
She addressed the students who seemed eager to meet the high ranking official responsible for all exchange programs for Palestinians saying that not only these exchange programs help Palestinians understand Americans, but also allow Americans to understand Palestinians.
According to a media note obtained from the Department of State website, Ryan hopes by embarking on this trip “to engage international stakeholders in the Department of State’s cross-cultural and educational diplomacy efforts.”
The note stated, “In Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, Ryan will engage with current exchange participants and alumni, including English Language Fellows, and visit classrooms administering the English Access Microscholarship Program.”
Ryan’s trip started on the 14th and is expected to conclude on the 24th of October. She will visit Oviedo, the capital city of the Principality of Asturias in northern Spain, to lead the US delegation to accept the 2014 Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation for the Fulbright Program.
M.H
