INTERCULTURAL PLANS PRAISED

In response to the new constitution for a World Education and Cultural Organization which was released by the State Department early this month, Robert Ulich, professor of Education in the Graduate School, in a recent SERVICE NEWS interview declared himself "highly optimistic about its potentialities." But he hastened to add, "there is ample possibility for the misinterpretation of many of the high sounding generalities. A great deal will depend on the outcome of the next London Conference of Allied Ministers of Education."

Keep Out of Politics

Referring specifically to the clause in the document which provides that no country shall have more than one member on the executive board placed above the "permanent council," Professor Ulich, who is suspicious of the creation of "just another partisan political body," stated that "there are two prerequisites to the success of the organization. It must," he said, "represent the cultural aspirations of humanity as a whole, and not embody petty political conflicts. It must also, and this is of prime importance, have a thoroughly trained staff who are familiar with the customs and the language of the people with whom they must deal."

Sees Two Brood Aims

As seen by Professor Ulich, the text in its present tentative state has two broad aims. Primarily it seeks to develop appreciation and understanding among diverse cultures for the furtherance of world peace; secondly it will endeavor to make available "to all peoples the world's full body of knowledge and culture."

Professor Ulich asserted that America has a great contribution to make toward a World Education Organization. But he warned, "we, and the other western nations, must not seek to impose an alien system of education, with a thin intellectual veneer, upon the more backward countries of the world." He emphasized that this applies to the reeducation of Nazi Germany.