In a ongoing commitment to the world community to help the  engage in recovery Microsoft Corp. today stepped up its commitment to prepare people of all ages with the technology skills and tools to succeed in today’s challenging economic climate. While at the  the Government Leaders Forum Microsoft announced the expansion of the successful Microsoft DreamSpark student program to include high school students worldwide. DreamSpark, originally available only to university students, makes professional-level developer and designer tools as well as training available to students at no charge to support and advance their learning and skills through technical design, technology, math, science and engineering activities.

"Expressed through its investments in a variety of initiatives, including DreamSpark, the Microsoft BizSpark program, Elevate America and Imagine Cup, Microsoft believes that giving people the right technology skills and the tools to translate their talent into business success is critical to stimulating the future growth of local and global economies. These programs are supported through the Microsoft Unlimited Potential program, the company’s commitment to help create sustained social and economic opportunity for communities worldwide."

“Today, despite the economic crisis, it’s as important as ever to focus on investing in innovation so we can continue to make real progress in solving big problems and creating social and economic opportunity,” said Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft. “In particular, I believe investment in education is essential. Education is the starting point for success for individuals and the prerequisite for economic growth and prosperity for communities. It’s vital that we support efforts to provide children with access to a high-quality education and adults with access to ongoing technology skills training.”

“As a university student, access to the software tools available on DreamSpark has already provided substantial benefits to my studies and overall academic success,” said Sina Chenari, a computer science student at George Washington University. “The experience and skills that I’ve developed using the same professional technology tools have helped me secure valuable internships and will give me a tremendous head start for a career after graduation. I think all students should take advantage of this opportunity before they enter the workforce.”

By increasing the teh out reach to the world education market microsoft  as well as start ups microsoft is making a stroing case for their product line. It will be interesting to see if schools react with education in the classroom that takes advantage of these tools.