Brazilian president stresses importance of investing in education

Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff stressed on Thursday the importance of investing in education and technology to boost the country's development and competitiveness. "Brazil will enjoy the fruits of the age of prosperity we are building if it invests methodically and systematically in education, research, technology, and if it is able to transform this investment into knowledge and innovation," the president said during the awards ceremony of an innovation prize in Brasilia. She said that the government is very interested in investing in innovation. She believed that with an economic crisis which was "dramatic" and subsequent contraction in several export markets, Brazil must increase its competitiveness and work to add value to its products. Earlier this week, the government announced 12,500 scholarships abroad for Brazilian college students. The students will attend courses in six countries including the United States, Britain, Canada, France, Italy and Germany. The government will also provide foreign language courses for poor students who need to improve their language skills before going abroad to help narrow the gap between them and their better-off counterparts who can afford to learn foreign languages in early education.