Kansas State University

MANHATTAN — Kansas State University will welcome Ecuadorian officials on Wednesday, Aug. 6, for a Day of Ecuador.

Ecuadorian Ambassador Nathalie Cely; Vice Minister María del Pilar Troya from SENESCYT, the Ecuadorian governing body of higher education; and Freddy Alvarez, general research dean of the Instituto de Altos Estudios Nacionales, will participate with university administrators as part of the program.

The Day of Ecuador will provide a forum for researchers, educators and students to exchange and discuss ideas, approaches and research findings about the role of education in generating human development in a global era.

Registration opens at 8 a.m., and the Day of Ecuador will begin at 9 a.m. in Forum Hall at the K-State Student Union with an introduction and welcome from Sue Maes, dean of Kansas State University Global Campus; April Mason, provost and senior vice president; and Nathalie Cely, Ecuadorian ambassador to the U.S.

The colloquium address, "An Approach to Good Living and Inclusive Education in Ecuador," will be delivered by Troya. Ecuadorian and Kansan leaders will conduct interactive panel discussions.

The event will conclude with a concert by Papaya Dada, an Ecuadorian musical group that fuses traditional sounds with funk, jazz, pop and salsa, from 5:30-7 p.m. at the Union's Bosco Student Plaza.

Kansas State University and the Ecuadorian government are partners in improving access to education for Ecuadorians. In the past seven years, the government of Ecuador has made great strides in increasing educational opportunities for its citizens, especially indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorians. Since 2007, more than 7,000 scholarships have been provided to students to attend universities around the world, including Kansas State University as part of the Go Teacher program.

Go Teacher is a scholarship program developed through a partnership between the university and the Ecuadorian government, including the Ministry of Education and SENESCYT, to enhance the English skills of teachers in Ecuador and to provide them with instruction in Teaching English as a Second Language, or TESL, methodologies. Through the program, teachers in Ecuador attend classes on the university's Manhattan campus and at three partner institutions across the U.S.

The first Go Teacher cohort arrived at Kansas State University in summer 2012 and nearly 90 teachers from Ecuador participated. The program is in its fifth cycle and has brought a total of 427 Go Teacher students to Manhattan. In January 2014, 42 Ecuadorian teachers enrolled in the university's curriculum and instruction master’s degree program. Students in this master’s degree program will specialize in Teaching English as a Second Language.

For more information about Day of Ecuador and a schedule of events, visit http://www.global.k-state.edu/dayofecuador. This event is open to the public. If you are interested in attending Day of Ecuador, please RSVP to Marci Ritter at mritter@k-state.edu.