Abba Eban, Israel’s Minister of Education, said today Israel was ready to enlarge its program of providing additional training in various sciences to young people of other countries.
He made the announcement at the United Nations Science and Technology Conference after asserting that every new nation, “even the smallest, ” must make every possible effort to assure that, in the next decade or two, it will have a community of scientists “able to take part in the research work of the whole world.”
He rejected the view, expressed by some speakers at the conference from Western countries, that new states should content themselves with the simple technology now available generally, leaving pure research to the more developed nations.
He argued that scientific research was an educational and cultural value indispensable to any normal society, and that there could not be a technological spirit in a country which did not encourage education and scientific research. He also contended that new countries could not content themselves only with the counsel of foreign scientists, even if there was great value in the work being done by such scientists.
Finally, he said, new countries strive not only for economic development but also for equality and decency. For these reasons, he added, new nations could not afford to remain outside the research efforts undertaken by humanity. Otherwise, he argued, “there will be anew inequality between two kinds of nations, those who master scientific progress and those who stand outside the bonds of science.”
ISRAEL REPORTS IN GENEVA ON ITS ‘INVISIBLE EXPORT’ OF KNOW-HOW
Israel’s large delegation to the UN Conference meeting here with representatives of 103 countries in attendance, informed the world’s experts today about Israel’s “invisible export” of know-how. A 40-page booklet was distributed to the thousands of delegates here, detailing Israel’s achievements toward assisting emerging countries to raise their standards of life, health, education and social welfare.
The Israeli document, entitled “Science in the Service of the New States, ” was a compendium of the results accomplished by the first conference of this kind ever held. That parley, under the auspices of the Weizmann Institute of Science, was convened at Rehovot, Israel, in August 1960. An introduction to the pamphlet was written by Mr. Eban.
“Science is not a magic word, ” Mr. Eban stated in his introduction. “Its use depends upon education at all levels and on the application of imagination and energy. Israel was fortunate in having a large number of immigrant settlers who have been leading scientists in their own countries and in having established scientific institutions before the country obtained its liberty.
“On the other hand, Israel is a small country with sparse rainfall and very limited natural resources. It is dependent entirely upon its human material to lift it out of backwardness and poverty. Science has been a major instrument in its expansion. The fact that it is a small land with limited means is a particularly relevant example for students from new states.”
The booklet lists tributes to Israel’s role in assisting developing nations from representatives attending the conference from a number of the newer African republics. The handbook covers 22 subjects, ranging from solar energy to the battle against disease. It concludes by stating: “Israel’s scientific objectives are fundamentally the same as those of other new states. It does not need to be emphasized that the most important form of cooperation which Israel can offer students and research workers from other countries is to help them help themselves to find solutions to their problems.”
ISRAEL WOMAN SCIENTIST REPORTS ON AGRICULTURAL ENGINEERING
One of the few women scientists reporting here, Professor Rahel Shalom, of the Israel Institute of Technology at Haifa, reported about the experiences gained in Israel through the establishment of a special, four-year course on agricultural engineering for students from developing countries. A second course of that type, she said, is being planned for the academic year 1963-64. Among those attending the course, she said, are students from Nigeria, Nepal, Thailand, British Guiana, Ceylon, Tanganyiki, Kenya and Ethiopia.
Dr. Yehuda Landau, representing the Settlement Study Center of Israel’s Agricultural Institute, advocated the development of the production potential in agriculture so that the income of farmers would be increased. Such higher standard of living, he noted, would create a greater demand for industrial products, thus aiding what he called “the marriage of industry and agriculture.”
The objective of Israeli policy, said Dr. Landau, is to see to it that the average income of rural residents should not lag behind the projected in the national, average, per capita income which will increase about 32 percent in the next 10 years. “All means at the disposal of economic planners, ” he said, “and of policy makers are directed toward achieving similar increases in the net income of farmers.”
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