Celebrating 50 years of educational co-operation

On 31 March 2009, the Commonwealth will celebrate half a century of educational co-operation between member states at a two-day conference at the University of Oxford, UK.

Commonwealth education ministers met for the first time in Oxford in 1959, the same year in which the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan and the Council for Education in the Commonwealth (CEC) were established.

From 31 March to 1 April 2009, the delegates in Oxford will consider future opportunities and collaborations to advance education in the Commonwealth under the theme ‘Looking ahead at 50’.

The University of Oxford celebration will be hosted by the Chancellor, Lord Patten of Barnes, the Commonwealth Secretariat and the CEC.

Speakers from across member states will include Commonwealth leaders, senior government policy-makers, administrators, researchers and civil society representatives.

Kamalesh Sharma, the Commonwealth Secretary-General, who will be addressing the conference, said: “The meeting in Oxford in 1959 was truly a formative one, paving way for the triennial Commonwealth Education Ministers Meetings which now govern our Commonwealth education policy. The meeting established the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan, which has now benefited nearly 30,000 young people over the past 50 years.

“This important conference will look ahead to the educational challenges the next 50 years will bring and hopefully carry these suggestions and ideas forward when Commonwealth education ministers meet in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in June 2009.”

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