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Improving Quality in Education

Quality in education is an Action Area alongside efforts to achieve and sustain universal primary education and gender equality in education

BruneiParticipants at 15CCEM affirmed that quality through qualifications needs urgently to be addressed. The Continuing Professional Development (CPD) of teachers has been identified as a key element in ensuring quality in education systems.

It is important for teachers to recognise that CPD is a pre-requisite for their professional careers and as part of the battle against ignorance. Ministers have agreed on the importance of improving teacher quality, and identified the issues of teacher selection, training, retention and ongoing professional development as vital.

Further professional development for head teachers and senior education officials, along with ensuring the availability of quality resources is also needed.

One relevant factor in the promotion of quality in education is the issue of teacher migration. Calls for a Protocol to regulate the activities of both source and recruiting countries were being heard at 15CCEM in response to the detrimental effects of migration of the best-qualified teachers in poorer nations to developed ones, thus crippling already struggling education systems.

Following the 15CCEM, a Working Group to examine teacher recruitment was formed. The result was the signing of the Commonwealth Teacher Recruitment Protocol at Stoke Rochford in September 2004, which put forward responsibilities to be adhered to by both recruiting and source countries, and by migrating professionals.

During the 16CCEM, a Forum for Teachers acknowledged that information and communications technology (ICT) has the potential to play a significant role in the achievement of quality education for all, including in pre-service and in-service professional development of teachers.

Education ministers at their 16th meeting discussed the major challenges faced by small and developing Commonwealth countries in ensuring that they have a sufficient number of well-qualified teachers to ensure universal access to a quality education. It was noted that the development of the Commonwealth Teacher Recruitment Protocol is slowly improving the situation and discussed ways in which the Commonwealth could work together to improve the situation.

Documents

Improving Quality in Education - Worshop Report