EDUN N28-34-009 V5 

00504 

20 Jan 04 

VISIT TO SWITZERLAND AND FRANCE BY ACTING MINISTER FOR EDUCATION, MR THARMAN SHANMUGARATNAM, FROM 22 TO 30 JANUARY 2004 

1.             Acting Minister for Education, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, will be visiting France and Switzerland from 22 to 30 January 2004. 

2.             He will attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland, where he will speak on panels concerning the challenges facing universities and on the new dynamics in Asia. This will be followed by visits to several top universities and schools in Switzerland and France, and meetings with their Ministers in charge of education. 

3.             In Switzerland, Mr Shanmugaratnam will meet with the Federal Councillor of Home Affairs, Mr Pascal Couchepin. Mr Couchepin heads the Swiss Federal office for Education and Science, which is the central authority for research, universities and education. Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam will also visit a few top universities and schools in Zurich, including the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich). 

4.             In Paris, Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam will call on the French Education Minister, Mr Luc Ferry. He will visit several top universities and schools, both public and private, to gain an understanding of the French approach to excellence in education. 

5.             Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam will be accompanied on the trip by officials from the Ministry of Education and Economic Development Board.