Nigeria, Sierre Leone, Tanzania and some other nations across the world have been drafted on the Education Ministers Working Group on the Commonwealth's recommendations for the post-2015 development framework.
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Other members selected to be on the working group that will?feed into discussions taking place at the United Nations on a framework for post-2015 anti-poverty targets?are Bangladesh, Barbados, Cyprus, India, Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Papua New Guinea, Seychelles and Uganda.?
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This selection was made during the just concluded 18th conference of the Commonwealth Education Ministers in Mauritius where participants pledged to ensure a strong Commonwealth voice in the process of formulating the next generation of global development goals.
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“Ministers noted that unless robust advocacy for the pivotal role of education post-2015 – in the economy, for society, for democracy and for development – is made, there is a risk that it might lose its place in the global priorities,” they Commonwealth Education Ministers said in their final communiqué.
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The Communiqué acknowledged that solid progress had been made towards reaching the Millennium Development Goals in education and the Education for All goals by 2015, particularly in universal primary education. But they noted that 23.3 million primary age children were still out of school in Commonwealth countries and identified quality education and equal access as common challenges.
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Also, students from around the Commonwealth launched the first pan-Commonwealth Student Association during a side event of the Education Ministers conference in Mauritius.
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The Association will enable student leaders from all regions of the Commonwealth to inform thinking and have a voice in key education decisions. It represents the fulfilment of recommendations from young people when they last held an education Youth Forum in Malaysia in 2009.
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“It is essential that our future professionals and leaders have a say on education issues that affect them and generations to come. An organised youth voice in education will facilitate Commonwealth-wide access to deliberations and, ultimately, policy outcomes that will shape the future of education,” said Mmasekgoa Masire-Mwamba, Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General.
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“We in the Commonwealth are taking bold steps to embrace the vast potential in our young people; we have sought to listen to them and are working together to implement the priorities they have emphasised.”
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