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Commonwealth Secretariat press release

Commonwealth Education Ministers to address teacher recruitment and the impact of HIV/AIDS

25 August 2004

Commonwealth Education Ministers, senior officials and representatives of civil society from some 27 countries will meet in the United Kingdom to address two issues: the international recruitment of teachers, and the impact of HIV/AIDS on the education sector in small states. The meetings, organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat with the support of the UK 's National Union of Teachers, will take place from 30 August to 2 September 2004 , at Stoke Rochford Hall Conference Centre, Lincolnshire .

Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon, who will be addressing Education Ministers on 31 August, said today, "These two meetings address the same challenge: how Commonwealth countries, particularly small developing states, can maintain a workforce of teachers able to deliver the Millennium Development Goal of achieving universal primary education by 2015."

The Ministerial Meeting on the Commonwealth Teacher Recruitment Protocol will take place on Wednesday 1 September. Ministers will consider the final draft of the Protocol, designed to provide appropriate and ethical codes of conduct for the international recruitment of teachers. It was developed by a working group of 12 senior officials chaired by Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General Winston Cox, at the request of the 15th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (15 CCEM) in Edinburgh , UK , in October 2003. The working group's final session will take place on Tuesday 31 August.

The Small States Ministerial Meeting on HIV/AIDS and Education will take place on Thursday 2 September. It will focus on the role of education policy and practice in preventing the loss of teachers and reductions in school enrolment as a consequence of the pandemic. The meeting follows discussions at 15 CCEM, where Ministers emphasised the importance of preparing for the impact of HIV/AIDS on teacher supply and demand.

Note to Editors:

A Press Conference on the Commonwealth Teacher Recruitment Protocol will take place at the Stoke Rochford Hall Conference Centre at 3.45 p.m. on Wednesday 1 September. A Press Conference on the HIV/AIDS and Education Ministerial Meeting will take place at 12.30 p.m. on Thursday 2 September, at the same venue. For press enquiries and further information please contact Daniel Woolford , Communications and Public Affairs Division, Commonwealth Secretariat, on +44 (0)795 732 4346, or visit www.thecommonwealth.org/education.

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ISSUED BY THE COMMUNICATIONS AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS DIVISION
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