JPMorgan Chase Funds Partnership to Bridge Digital Divide

Washington, DC - January 14, 2003

World Links and the International Literacy Institute announced today that J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation will support their Bridges to the Future Initiative in India, aimed at increasing access to information and communication technologies for teachers, students, out-of-school youth, and adults.

The World Links-International Literacy Institute partnership will improve literacy levels, student learning, youth employment opportunities, and knowledge economy skills through the establishment of 15 dual-use telecenters in Hyderabad, the capital of India's progressive state of Andhra Pradesh. The telecenters will be used to improve classroom teaching and learning during school hours, and to promote literacy training during after-school hours.

The Partnership has created a comprehensive and cost-effective joint plan that represents an innovative and expansive effort to provide ICT-based learning as both formal and non-formal education -- enabling them to reach a much broader range of disadvantaged individuals.

Commenting on the benefits of this work, "We feel that the Bridges to the Future Initiative is directly in line with our priorities for educational development, and are eager to see what can be achieved by such a distinguished partnership," stated Dr. I.V. Subba Rao, Secretary of Education, Andhra Pradesh.

"Building a nation of skilled and motivated youth is the backbone of development in every country," says Michael Feller, President of J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation, "and JPMorgan Chase is proud to support this project."

Sam Carlson, Executive Director of World Links commented, "Thanks to JPMorgan Chase, this partnership will provide a powerful model for improved employment, teacher training, and sustainable communities in some of the poorest and least-educated populations in today's world. If successful, this program will provide a model that many other countries may wish to adopt."

Dr. Dan Wagner, Director and Professor at the International Literacy Institute (University of Pennsylvania) added, "JPMorganChase has been already been helping our efforts in India, and we are delighted to see this work expand with World Links. With this new partnership, we should be able to provide innovative ways to improve literacy and basic education for the poor, just as the UN has declared a new Literacy Decade."

The World Links-International Literacy Institute partnership, facilitated by J. P. Morgan Chase Foundation, is based on the understanding that new synergies among complementary partners working together can generate an unusual opportunity to create a whole that is far greater than the sum of its parts. In the coming years, World Links and the International Literacy Institute plan on expanding the partnership to additional centers in India and South Africa.

About J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $761 billion and operations in more than 50 countries. The firm is a leader in investment banking, asset management, private banking, private equity, custody and transaction services, and retail and middle market financial services. A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, JPMorgan Chase is headquartered in New York and serves more than 30 million consumer customers and the world's most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients. Information about JPMorgan Chase is available on the Internet at www.jpmorganchase.com.

During 2002, The J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation and JPMorgan Chase Bank (together, "JPMorgan Chase"), together contributed more than $73 million to thousands of nonprofit organizations around the world. JPMorgan Chase concentrates its giving on three focus areas: community development and human services; pre-collegiate public education; and arts and culture. In addition to general operating support, JPMorgan Chase supports a variety of Signature Programs in areas such as Faith-Based Community Development,Technology in Education, Child Care, and Arts Re-Grants, to name just a few. Information about The J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation is available on the Internet at www.jpmorganchase.com/grants.

About World Links

World Links is an international nonprofit organization whose mission is to improve educational outcomes, economic opportunities, and global understanding for youth in developing countries through the use of technology and the Internet. World Links' core "value-added" is its training program, designed to facilitate teachers and students in the application of information and communication technologies (particularly the Internet) to improve teaching and learning.

World Links began in mid-1997 as an initiative of Mr. James D. Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank, to help bring the developing world into the information age through its future leaders -- students -- and to build cultural awareness among them in the face of an ever-more global economy and society. In 1999, World Links spun-off from the World Bank as an independent non-profit organization. Since then, the program has expanded to over 22 developing countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. Currently, approximately 200,000 students and teachers in these countries are collaborating over the Internet in over 1,000 World Links schools with partners in over 22 industrialized countries on projects in all disciplines.

About International Literacy Institute

The Bridges to the Future Initiative (BFI), a global effort of the International Literacy Institute (ILI), aims to improve the quality of literacy, adult basic education, and vocational training for out-of-school youth and adults by using new technologies to help the poorest of the poor. The ILI was jointly established in 1994 by UNESCO and the University of Pennsylvania/Graduate School of Education.

The ILI builds on nearly two decades as a university-based literacy research center, the federally funded National Center on Adult Literacy (NCAL), and close collaboration with governmental, non-governmental, and multilateral agencies worldwide. The ILI and NCAL share the same building on the campus of the University of Pennsylvania, which also houses TECH21, the National Technology Laboratory for Literacy and Adult Education, funded by the U.S. Department of Education. The ILI mission is to provide scientific leadership in training and development in basic education and literacy for children, youth and adults, with a special emphasis on developing countries. The ILI has trained literacy professionals who work in more than 75 developing countries.

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Contact Information

Thomas Johnson
J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation
Email: Thomas.X.Johnson@jpmchase.com
Phone: +1 (212) 270-6925

Wayne Farmer
Director of Development, World Links
Email: wayne@world-links.org
Phone: +1 (202) 462-9576

Dr. Janet C. Smith
Manager of Communications, International Literacy Institute
University of Pennsylvania/Graduate School of Education
Email: smith@literacy.upenn.edu
Phone: +1 (215) 746-6736