Mr Frederick Tsao was invited to speak at the Education 2000 Conference, a major international event held on the 7th and 8th of April 2000, which attracted some 1400 participants both locally and internationally. The participants are mostly senior educators and policy makers.
Mr Tsao's talk has a thought provoking title: "Beyond Learning: the Role of Education in the Age of Wisdom". This topic was chosen because of the current focus on the response of education to the so-called "knowledge-based" economy. Mr Tsao wanted to highlight the possible loss of an opportunity to educate for Wisdom in the new environment in which information and knowledge is becoming more widely available.
In his talk, Mr Tsao pointed out the need for educators and policy makers to regain leadership in the management of culture. Often, this subject is avoided for reasons of political correctness or racial sensitivity. In the meantime, culture is being relentlessly managed by a free market economy based on consumption and the creation of desires and needs. Already, the budget for media advertising has far outstripped that for higher education -- a clear indication of who is winning the cultural war.
Mr Tsao also pointed out to the need for a more multi-disciplinary approach towards formulating educational policies, involving not only the professional educators, but also the business sector, the media, academia and other concerned individuals.
The talk stimulated a lively question and answer session.
