Salutations

It is my pleasure to bring you greetings on behalf of the Secretary-General and to welcome you to the Eleventh Meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development. This meeting of COHSOD is the culmination of a series of consultations on accreditation and technical and vocational education, the recommendations from which form part of your impressive agenda.

Salutations

On March 30, 2003 when the Special Meeting of Education - COHSOD was held in Trinidad and Chaired by Suriname, I was delighted to welcome Ministers of Education to Trinidad and Tobago.

I also emphasised the importance of COHSOD as a mechanism that allows us to come together to learn from each other to plan for our education systems in our own countries while recognizing that our success ultimately will depend upon our ability to prepare young people of the Caribbean to assure future roles in all our activities.

The status of the Region's education sector and training are in high focus at the Eleventh Meeting of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD),  which opened in Georgetown on  Thursday,  28th October 2004.

It is my pleasure to chair this opening session of the Eleventh Meeting of  the COHSOD which focuses on education and training . I am pleased that so many Ministers, officials and representatives of collaborating agencies and development partners are with us today as we try to resolve some critical issues that underscore the intricate linkages between social and economic policies, especially in the context of the CSME process and the role that education plays in the development of human resources required for a CSME that is competitive in the global arena.