New policy to trigger changes
The Commonwealth Education Policy will be unveiled at the 20th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (20CCEM) at the Sheraton Resort on Denarau, Nadi, this week.
The five-day conference gets under way tomorrow. Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Baroness Patricia Scotland arrived here yesterday.
In an interview with the Commonwealth Pacific Hub she said the initiative would help governments identify gaps and challenges in their education systems and effective strategies to achieve goals agreed by the international community in 2015. “We are living in a world where 121 million children aged six to 15 are out of school and 103 million youth worldwide lack basic literacy skills, according to UN figures,” Baroness Scotland said. Educational opportunities in Commonwealth countries she said should be transformed by a new framework being launched when ministers meet in Fiji.
The new resource she said was designed to make the Sustainable Development Goals more attainable by boosting school enrolments, providing safe learning environments and tackling adult literacy and gender disparity in education.
Ministers are expected to agree a special declaration covering issues such as minimum financing for education.
This declaration will be presented to Commonwealth Heads of Government at their summit in April 2018 in London.
Meanwhile, in an earlier release the Attorney-General and Minister for Education Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said Fiji was delighted to host his counterparts from 52 Commonwealth nations.
The ministers, he said, would seek ways of tackling challenges in expanding access to high quality education throughout the Commonwealth.
Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said this conference was the first to be held in a Pacific Island nation.
“It is also the first to be held following the global adoption of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, and will bring leaders in government, youth organisations and education to the table to discuss our game plan for moving forward the 2030 Agenda in education,” he said.
He said they would review progress in realising the targets of Sustainable Development Goal 4 and deliberate existing and emerging issues facing education systems throughout the member nations.
“We ask that our meeting be guided by the Pacific concept of Talanoa, and that we speak freely and exchange ideas and experiences in an open and transparent manner,’’ Mr Sayed-Khaiyum said.
“And, we ask for ambition and commitment on the part of every Commonwealth nation, as we strive to set a new standard in regional and international cooperation in advancing the 2030 Agenda.”