HU AWARDED $5.8 MILLION TO HELP REDUCE ILLITERACY IN AFRICA

Hampton, VA - President William R. Harvey announced that Hampton University was awarded $5,825,880 by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to write, translate, edit and produce 4.5 million textbooks and other learning aids for African students in grades K-8.

Dr. Judith Brooks-Buck, chair, Department of Education, who will direct the project, indicated that the textbooks will be written and translated into the national languages of six African countries.

"This is a part of President George W. Bush's efforts to erase illiteracy and promote learning around the world through a program entitled Textbooks for Africa's Thrust Toward a Global Society (T.A.G.S.) - A Joint American-African Partnership 2002-2007," said Harvey.

"President Bush is very much interested in children of color here and abroad," Harvey said.

The project will be operating out of the Department of Education.

"When the Hampton School Administration and Board reneged on the granting of a charter school to help Hampton students, we turned our creative energies into a project for African students," Brooks-Buck said.

With Hampton University as a leading institution, there will be five other Historically Black Colleges and Universities participating, including Elizabeth City State University, with Johnny Houston as the principal investigator. There will also be six African universities taking part in this mammoth project.

The almost $6 million is for the first year of operations, with the total budget set at approximately $36 million over a five-year period.

"A second goal of the project is to strengthen language and math skills with the belief that a more educated populus will result in a stronger economy for the countries involved," said Brooks-Buck.

For more information, contact Dr. Judith Brooks-Buck at 757-728-6251.