Keite Camacho
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - The federal government is implanting 40 university courses in the interior of the country with the objective of stemming the flow of youths into urban centers.

Speaking during his weekly radio broadcast, president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said that frequently youths have to undergo hardships in order to study, being forced to move far from their homes and face financial problems.

This week Lula will visit university construction sites in six states.

"We are builidng 40 university extension centers. I will go to Juazeiro, in Bahia, and Petrolina, in Pernambuco, where we are building the Universidade São Francisco. Then I will go to Arapiraca, in Alagoas, to Parnaíba, in Piauí, to Imperatriz, in Maranhão, and finally to Marabá, in Pará. I am going to inspect the construction which has a budget of US$279.43 million (R$ 592 million).I am going to take a close look at what is being done because quality education is one of my administration's main commitments. The only way Brazil will ever achieve first world standards is through quality education," said the president.

Lula pointed out that since 2003, a total of 9,008 professors have been hired for state-run universities. "When it comes to education you do not talk, you do. And we are doing what is necessary," he declared.

Translation: Allen Bennett