Regional Mid-Term Review Meeting of Education Ministers

Dr Henry Kaluba, Adviser and Head of Education, Commonwealth Secretariat

A Mid-Term Review Meeting of the 15th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (15CCEM) will take place in Nassau, The Bahamas, from 28 to 30 July 2005. Education Ministers from the Caribbean and Canada, as well as Fiji Islands, Sierra Leone and South Africa, will be attending the event, which will be opened by the Governor-General of The Bahamas, Dame Ivy Dumont.

The review is an opportunity for Commonwealth Caribbean countries and Canada to receive the mid-term report of the work of the Commonwealth Secretariat's Education Section and the Commonwealth of Learning since 15CCEM in 2003. The delegates will exchange information on measures taken in the Six Action Areas of the 15CCEM Action Plan. These include efforts to: achieve universal completion of primary education; address gender disparities in education; improve quality in education; use distance learning to overcome geographical barriers; support education in difficult circumstances; and mitigate the effects of HIV/AIDS on education systems.

The review meeting will also enable the 50 delegates to discuss the progress on the Commonwealth Teacher Recruitment Protocol, the outcomes of the Collaborative Partnership meetings in the UK involving Commonwealth non-governmental organisations, and arrangements for the 16CCEM Awards for Good Practice in the Six Action Areas to enhance education.

Ann Keeling, Director of the Social Transformation Programmes Division of the Secretariat, said: "In September, the Millennium Review will consider the education-related Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of eliminating gender disparity in primary and secondary education by 2005, a target that will not be reached by many Commonwealth countries. Canada and the Commonwealth countries of the Caribbean region, however, have largely achieved the education-related MDGs and have valuable experience to share with other regions of the Commonwealth that we hope will be discussed and recorded at the Bahamas meeting."

In Nassau, the delegates will be updated on the Asia-Pacific region's mid-term review meeting held in Fiji Islands earlier this year and on the forthcoming Africa region meeting to be held in Sierra Leone in November 2005. The outcome of the mid-term review meetings will be used to prepare for the 16CCEM to be held in South Africa in 2006.

 

CNIS - Commonwealth News and Information Service Issue 245, 27 July 2005

Key Links:

• Education Section