ARTICLE - EDUCATION - WILL SMITH

ACTOR WILL SMITH AND WIFE/ACTRESS JADA IN HAITI FOR EDUCATION
(Defend Haiti) -

ILE-A-VACHE - U.S. actor Will Smith and wife Jada Pinkett took part in a symposium on education held on Friday 17 and Saturday, February 18, 2012, at Ile a Vache, located off the south coast, 10 km from the city of Les Cayes.

Several celebrities including the famous Hollywood actor Will Smith, his wife Jada Pinkett Smith, and actor Sean Penn attended the symposium on education organized by the Education section of the Presidency, reported Haiti Press Network.

"The International support to education in Haiti," was the theme of the conference attended by the President of the Republic, Joseph Michel Martelly, the Minister of Education, Reginald Paul, the Foreign Affairs and Religion Minister, Laurent Lamothe, the President of the Senate Education Committee, Senator Edmonde Supplice Beauzile, and the MP for the Carrefour district (south of Port-au-Prince), Elie Blaise.

According to the Minister of National Education, the aim of the conference was to publicize the government's objectives in education and gain support from other partners to implement projects for the construction of school buildings, teacher training, universal schooling, and school canteens.

Laurent Lamothe said the choice of Ile a Vache to hold the meeting responds to a concern for decentralization, while allowing foreign guests to discover an idyllic place, and to promote tourism in Haiti.

The foreign guests who participated in the symposium were invited to raise awareness among international donors on the transition to universal education for elementary school, to contribute to the international fundraising, and to generate interest with academic partners and technology in their countries.