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Reflections from Kampala

15 February 2008

We have to seize the opportunities for strengthening and expanding education in a borderless world – Ransford Smith

Commonwealth member countries need support in promoting education in order to develop and transform their societies, Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General Ransford Smith has said.

“There is arguably no more crucial task to be undertaken either within or beyond the boundaries of the Commonwealth than the promotion and development of education,” he observed.

These comments were made by Mr Smith when reporting on the recent Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) to the Council for Education in the Commonwealth, on 29 January 2008 in the House of Commons, London, UK.

Mr Smith said that Heads directed that Commonwealth action regarding respect and understanding should build on and extend existing Commonwealth programmes, at both national and international levels. They identified education, as well as young people, women, and the media, as priority areas for action over the next four years.

In their final communiqué, Heads of Government also supported the need to increase public spending on education at all levels and “committed themselves to addressing a number of issues of concern in education to the Commonwealth.”

Mr Smith explained that the biennial meeting and the summits and workshops which took place at a similar time in Uganda all facilitated the exchange of ideas and experiences on key education issues in the Commonwealth.

There are currently about 30 million primary school children in the Commonwealth who are currently not in school. Those who complete primary education rarely go on to secondary or university education due to poverty and other socio-economic factors.

“In a fast changing world, both politically and technologically, national borders are becoming less and less relevant in education as in other areas. We have to seize the opportunities for strengthening and expanding education in a borderless world and utilise effectively the potential of education for improving the quality of life of Commonwealth peoples,” the Deputy Secretary-General said.

“There is no clearer path than this to entrenching Commonwealth values and no firmer ground on which to anchor the twin pillars of democracy and development.”

With its diverse resources and expertise, he argued that the Commonwealth can potentially make a huge difference by helping member countries improve secondary and tertiary education.

Mr Smith informed the Council for Education in the Commonwealth that the outcomes from the Kampala CHOGM would feed into the Commonwealth Secretariat’s new four-year Strategic Plan.

Click here for the full text of this speech