For the 17th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (17 CCEM), around 1500 education stakeholders from the 53 Commonwealth countries gathered in Malaysia that ran from June 15 to 19, Educator and researcher Dr Lalit Kishore from NGO sector from India was nominated by CASTME as a panelist for his contribution in the area on science education reform.
The conference theme was "Making connections and building partnerships: Towards and Beyond Global Goals and Targets" and Dr Kishore spoke on the issue of gender equity in STEM education in a parallel session.
UNESCO’s Assistant Director-General for Education Mr Nicholas Burnett, urged that the on-going economic crisis must not change the agenda of improving access to education because 75 million children were still out of school and there was a need to make students learn, to promote gender equality, to empower youth and adults with literacy and life skills.
Over 70 panellists, including Dr Kishore, from across the Commonwealth countries shared on subjects ranging from the quality of education in the current economic climate, to making education inclusive and explore multi stake-holder partnerships for financing education, it was reported.
The Commonwealth education ministers’ conference has taken place every three years since 1959 with the object to discuss and share challenges and identify future goals and directions.
The excerpts of the report (visit the links) go as follows:
-The Conference was opened by the Hon Dato’ Sri Mohamed Najib Tun Haji Abdul Razak, Prime Minister of Malaysia, who emphasised the importance of education
as a transformational tool to mould and determine the destiny of nations. The meeting was co-chaired by the Hon Tan Sri Muhyiddin Mohamed Yassin, the Deputy Prime
Minister and Minister of Education Malaysia, and the Hon Dato’ Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, Minister of Higher Education Malaysia. The Hon Nahas Angula, Prime Minister of Namibia delivered the Keynote Address, on the theme of Commonwealth Youth and Students in Times of Uncertainties.
- The Conference included four parallel forums: Stakeholders Forum, Youth Forum, Teachers Forum and Vice Chancellors Forum, which brought different perspectives to the discussions and supported Ministers’ deliberations on the overall
theme.
- The participating Ministers recognized that education provides a fundamental tool for self-improvement and national development, and is a basic human right. It also helps countries prepare for recovery, by helping people re-tool and develop the necessary skills to meet the future needs of the economy. A
-... (The Conference) highlighted the need for all children to have equity of access to quality education, regardless of geographical location, resources, gender, ethnicity and ability,
-... noted that one-third of Commonwealth countries have yet to achieve universal primary education and gender parity. They agreed to prioritise the challenge of reaching some 27 million Commonwealth children, who do not currently receive schooling, and those do not complete the primary education successfully, to make universal primary education a reality.
-...recognized the importance of preparing the groundwork for moving beyond these goals at the same time as striving to achieve
-...recognized the importance of delivering: improved access to Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE); Improved access to secondary education;
-...stressed improvements in the quality and professionalism of teachers; Good governance in education administration; and “Gender mainstreaming” across all interventions
-...emphasized the need of enhancing the delivery of multi-grade teaching expansion -...recognized the benefits of engaging youth at all levels of policy dialogue and curriculum development.
More at following links
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