The Tribune

By RICARDO WELLS

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

THE 19th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (CCEM) was opened yesterday by Education Minister Jerome Fitzgerald, who outlined the goal of global education practitioners to provide quality education for equitable development in member countries.

The conference, being hosted for the third time in the Caribbean, was jointly organised by the office of the Commonwealth Secretariat and the government of the Bahamas through the Ministry.

The CCEM is a triennial event and considered the most defining educational caucus in the Commonwealth.

Officials insisted that the primary goal of the five-day conference will be the engagement of education ministers in discussions that analyse education systems, with a view to executing, monitoring and evaluating action plans over a three-year period.

“All human development and sustainability begins and ends with education,” said Mr Fitzgerald.

“The power of education to transform lives is a shared belief amongst the people of the Commonwealth member countries. For this reason we have assembled to engage in dialogue and formulate statements that will solidify our efforts to deliver quality education.”

According to the Education Minister, there is a direct correlation between the level of education of individual citizens and a nation’s cultural, social and economic growth.

“If our countries are to thrive, then our citizens must be well educated. Now more than ever a sincere and realistic emphasis must be placed on an education system that is relevant to our citizens and upholds the tenets of quality and equity,” added the Marathon MP. “We must be progressive in our thinking and our approach to education.”

Despite a substantial effort, the CCEM has not been able to adequately advance, with greater social and economic inclusiveness, the access to education in member nations.

Statistics presented by the CCEM showed that roughly 60 per cent of the Commonwealth population are 30 or younger. However, statistics revealed that many of the youth in member countries don’t receive an adequate education.

Deodat Maharaj, the Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General, emphasised the importance of a unified approach to education by member countries amidst growing economic woes for many of them.

A background paper prepared by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and presented to the Commonwealth in 2013 reported that the debt burdens in Commonwealth Small States have grown rapidly within the last decade, particularly in the Caribbean, and are now at unsustainable levels.

Three Commonwealth nations – Grenada, Jamaica and St Kitts and Nevis – have a debt to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) ratio above 100 per cent.

That report added that there are signs that the high debt-low growth debacle in small states is beginning to impact these countries’ human development.

During the early 1990s and mid-2000s Human Development Improvement (HDI) growth in small states slowed tremendously and it has declined further since 2008 to its lowest ever.

Twenty-one countries had debt-to-GDP ratios of over 50 per cent and 14 had debt-to-GDP ratios exceeding 60 per cent at the end of 2012.

“Partnership should not be seen as something that is convenient, it’s imperative,” said Mr Maharaj. He stated that member countries have no choice but to work together to counteract the lack of financial resources needed to improve human capital.

In addition to the Ministerial Meeting, the conference will foster a Teacher’s Forum, Youth Forum and a Stakeholders Forum.

Officials proposed that the conference will prove opportunities for representatives from the wider Commonwealth education community to share ideas and form partnerships that will positively influence education systems throughout the Commonwealth.

Nearly 60 educational ministers and 1,000 foreign delegates from across Commonwealth countries are in the Bahamas for the conference, which is being hosted at Atlantis, Paradise Island.