education

Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Ministers of Education have agreed to work closely with the Commonwealth Secretariat, which will undertake a study, to articulate the implications of the managed migration of the Region's skilled human resources.

During a press conference following the conclusion of the Eleventh Meeting of the CARICOM Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD), held in Georgetown 28-29 October, the Ministers expressed satisfaction that much ground had been covered at the two-day forum where the issue of skilled migration was high on the agenda.

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.

Adequate preparation of the Region's work force to reap the benefits being afforded by the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) and a globalised world will be among the core issues on the agenda for Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Ministers and officials when the Eleventh Meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) convenes in Georgetown, 28-29 October 2004.

CARICOM Ministers of Education met in Retreat in Georgetown, Guyana over a 2-day period of 3-4 June 2004 to discuss challenges facing the Region's educational system and to make recommendations on new directions, programmes and policies. The meeting was chaired by the Hon. Hazel Manning, Minister of Education, Trinidad and Tobago and facilitated by Dr. Henry Jeffrey, Minister of Education, Guyana.

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat is enhancing the regional Public Education Programme for the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) with a series of communications events beginning in Barbados this week.

I am delighted to welcome all of you who have honoured the invitation to this 6th Special Meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development. Your presence here, is fitting testimony to your commitment to the urgent need for us to work harmoniously together in facing the challenges of Human and Social Development, as they relate to education at all levels of the system.

This Meeting provides a forum for dialogue with the objective of evolving enduring solutions to the human development constraints facing the Caribbean Region.

The Sixth Special Meeting of the Caribbean Community’s (CARICOM) Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) begins in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, starting at 9_00 a.m. on Monday, 31 March with a focus on Education.

The two-day meeting at the Trinidad Hilton Hotel and Conference Centre to be presided over by the Hon. Walter Sandriman, Suriname’s Minister of Education and Community Development, will consider among other issues, the migration of teachers from the Caribbean.

The Region-wide series of public education workshops which touches on a wide range of issues relating to the implementation of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) will continue in Guyana during this month.