Education meeting tackles teacher qualifications

Permanent secretaries and other education officials from 18 Commonwealth countries are meeting in Lincolnshire, United Kingdom, from 26 to 28 September 2007 to discuss the recognition of teacher qualifications and professional registration across the Commonwealth.

The conference, whose objective is to agree on a plan of action which countries will take forward to facilitate human resource development in education, is co-hosted by the National Union of Teachers of the UK and the Commonwealth Teachers Group.

Officials will look at key elements of the report and recommendations of the Working Group on Teacher Qualifications and Professional Registration endorsed by the 16th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers in South Africa in December 2006.

Professional registration of teachers will offer an avenue through which teachers from Commonwealth countries can be internationally recognised.

"The group is working towards fluency and recognition for teacher qualifications and professional registration in Commonwealth countries," said Dr Roli Degazon-Johnson, Education Adviser at the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Senior government officials and academics from Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bangladesh, Botswana, Brunei Darussalam, The Gambia, Jamaica, Kenya, Lesotho, Malaysia, Mauritius, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Trinidad and Tobago, United Kingdom and Zambia are taking part in the conference.

They will have the opportunity to update delegates on the status of qualifications and professional registration in their respective countries.

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