International exchanges of faculty and students are vital in today's global village, 10 educators from schools around the world said Tuesday during a visit to Cape Girardeau.

"The world of the 21st century is becoming increasingly borderless," Yoshiya Ishii, president of Aichi University in Japan, said through an interpreter.

Ken Jones, dean of the education faculty at Swansea Institute of Higher Education in Wales, said cultural exchanges between colleges will make the global village a safer and happier place.

Julius Onah, vice chancellor of Enugu State University of Science and Technology in Nigeria, said international exchanges are important. "The world is growing smaller and smaller every day," he said.

The 10 educators from Africa, Europe, Japan and the United Kingdom were among 16 international visitors from 12 institutions and organizations who visited Southeast Missouri State University.

Southeast has international exchanges with those schools. The international educators were invited to Southeast as part of "Celebrating Our Diversity Week" at the school, which is in the midst of its 125th anniversary.

The educators toured the Cape Girardeau area prior to participating in an afternoon panel discussion at the University Center.

Besides Ishii, Onah and Jones, the panelists included

-- Jurgen Hendrich, director of the academic office for foreign students at Friedrich-Schiller Universitate Jena in Germany.

-- Uwe Bestmann of Aachen University in Germany.

-- Lei Heijenrath, president of the Hogeschool Limburg in The Netherlands.

-- Ingemar Lind, vice chancellor of Orebro University in Sweden.

-- Seppo Pynna of Satakunta Polytechnic in Finland.

-- Sandra McWilliams of the education department at Stranmillis University College in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

-- Tsukasa Shimizu, president of Tokyo Kasei University In Japan.

Onah said American students who study in Nigeria will find a nation that is hospitable and friendly but without some of the amenities of developed nations such as the United States.

"We don't have good roads like you have," he said. Government funding for education is in short supply.

Bestmann said American students who study at Aachen University and other European schools won't face culture shock. "This will not be a world without cars, TVs or washing machines," he said.

Bestmann said his university is close to the borders with The Netherlands and Belgium. As a result, there are daily exchanges between residents in the region. International education is a way of life in the region and Europe in general where distance between countries is relatively short.

"We are living in this environment, and we practice it every day," said Bestmann. "We learned to be open to other cultures."

Heijenrath said his school in The Netherlands values international education programs because they lead to "an open mind" and a tolerance of other cultures.

McWilliams said her teachers college in Belfast has just started student exchanges with Southeast. She welcomed the ties between the schools. She said she feels a cultural bond with the United States. "I am an Ulster Scot," said McWilliams.

She said 10 American presidents can trace their ancestry to that region. "We also lay claim to Davey Crockett," she said.

Swansea Institute has had student-teacher exchanges with Southeast for a dozen years.

The institute's Jones said international exchanges are a learning experience. "You learn so much about yourself by learning about other people."