Our Challenges

While trends are broadly positive in education, many countries in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are not on track to reach the education MDGs by 2015.

An estimated 30 million primary school children are out of school in Commonwealth countries, 57 per cent of who are girls. 85 per cent of children out of school in the Commonwealth live in Ghana, India, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria and Pakistan. Achieving Universal Primary Education, therefore, remains a serious Commonwealth challenge.

Our challenges include:

• The level of prioritisation of education given by governments
• Planning and management of the teaching profession issues such as training, deployment and remuneration.
• Social and cultural impediments that prevent children attending school
• The devastating effects of HIV/AIDS on education delivery systems in some countries.

How we meet these challenges:

Advocacy

We advocate for education for all for economic and social development. We particularly concentrate our support to marginalised communities.

Gender- focused initiatives

We affirm the importance of eliminating gender disparities in education by 2015, utilising the technology, facilities and efficiencies afforded by using open and distance learning to overcome barriers and combating the digital divide in education.

Teacher-sensitive research and policy formulation

We improve quality in education through signalling the importance of the role played by teachers, addressing their status, retention and mobility whilst at the same time advancing the importance of the management, training and development of this critical resource in education.

Partnership collaboration

Working in partnership with other players, we support education in difficult circumstances through addressing the challenges of education delivery during situations of crisis, conflict, post-conflict and natural disasters and providing guidelines to improve preparedness for emergencies in conjunction with partner organizations.

Good Practice dissemination

We promote good practices in all the six action areas of the EFA Plan of Action as mandated by Ministers of Education in the Commonwealth through their meetings.

We have established Education Good Practice Awards which give governments, civil society and non-governmental organisations the opportunity to showcase as well as share their work with other countries across the Commonwealth so that others can learn from and follow their examples.

Projects, programmes, policies, strategies or significant initiatives which have made a positive difference to the status and condition of primary school children, their teachers, or the education system of a country are submitted to these awards. 

Commonwealth Scholarships and Fellowships Plan (CSFP) Education Fund

Launched in 1959, the Commonwealth Scholarships and Fellowships Plan is one of the most prestigious scholarship schemes for international study and professional development in the Commonwealth. Over 25,000 Commonwealth citizens have received awards – many going on to reach the very highest levels of their profession.

We are establishing an endowment fund that will support Commonwealth scholars in order to increase the number of awards currently being offered. Governments have expressed a willingness to contribute to the Fund, which is anticipated to be up and running by the end of 2009. 

Commonwealth Teacher Recruitment Protocol

We have established a Protocol offering an international standard for teacher recruitment that has been adopted by all 53 Commonwealth member countries and in some non-Commonwealth countries as well.

It aims to balance the rights of teachers to migrate internationally, on a temporary or permanent basis, against the need to protect the integrity of national education systems, and prevent the exploitation of scarce human resources in developing or low income countries. 

Tools, Reports and Publications

We publish a number of tools, reports and other publications intended to address Universal Primary Education; gender issues, teachers and Commonwealth Good Practice in member countries.

One such publication – Primary School Teacher Deployment - identifies concerns in Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea and Tanzania, including low levels of qualified teachers, and then addresses their teacher deployment policies and practices. Ensuring a focused approach to the education and recruitment of female teachers and introducing sustainable teacher incentives in remote locations are among the key recommendations which emerged from this publication.

In order to strengthen capacities we develop appropriate tools, mechanisms and publications, and facilitate their adoption at different levels by providing technical assistance. These include protocols, packages and books based on research and experiences. In many cases, the process of development itself is participatory and serves as a capacity building exercise.