Intel chairman and ex-CEO Craig Barrett announced that the company is planning to educate and train more than two million Arab teachers by 2011.

The current Intel Teach program will be expanded in Arab countries, with the help of local governments, Ministries of Education, and Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation, he noted.

Coincidentally, the Intel Teach program 'trains educators on how to integrate computers and other technology into their curriculums to better teach their students'. Perhaps it's not quite the altruistic move it appears to be on first glance, then.

As it stands, over 400,000 teachers have graduated from the current program, and we bet that all will know how to say 'Intel Inside' with aplomb.

Do you think it's right for Intel to effectively sponsor an initiative that ultimately leads to more hardware being sold and installed in emerging markets, especially when launched under the auspices of educative advancement?

On a related note, Intel needs to do more with its World Ahead venture, we feel, as it's become rather stagnant in the last six months.

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