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Hemisphere’s Education Ministers to meet in Tobago August 10-12

The hemisphere’s education ministers will gather in Tobago from August 10 through 12, under the aegis of the Organization of American States (OAS), to discuss a range of common challenges and agree on actions they can take together to improve education in the nations of the Americas.

Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Patrick Manning and OAS Secretary General José Miguel Insulza will Wednesday evening inaugurate the meeting that is being organized by the OAS Office of Education, Science and Technology in conjunction with Trinidad and Tobago’s Ministry of Education. The premier hemispheric forum for education policymakers will be held at the Hilton Hotel in Scarborough, Tobago.

Under the theme, “Quality Education for a Democratic and Productive Citizenry,” the meeting will review the current state of education in the Americas, using indicators developed through the Regional Education Indicators Project, a Summit of the Americas initiative. The data show that unless much greater efforts are made, the hemisphere will not reach its goal of 100 percent completion of primary education by the year 2010; and in many countries, less than half of young people will have completed secondary education. The challenges are most acute in rural areas, for low-income populations, and for indigenous groups.

OAS Secretary General Insulza underscored the conference’s significance, saying “I am proud of the role the OAS plays in promoting dialogue on education, which is at the heart of our development agenda as a hemisphere. While we have made great strides in enrolling more of our nations’ children in school, we have a long way to go toward fulfilling our goal of providing a quality education to every child and young person. Guaranteeing a high quality education for all is more than just smart development policy, it is guaranteeing a fundamental human right. This Ministerial Meeting recognizes that a quality education underlies strong democratic institutions and just and prosperous societies.”

Preceding the ministers’ conference on August 10 is a seminar entitled “Education for Democratic Citizenship in the Americas: An Agenda for Action,” jointly organized by the OAS and the Inter-American Development Bank. The seminar will bring findings from recent research on citizens’ knowledge of and attitudes toward democracy to the Ministers and invited guests, along with the results of a new IDB-sponsored study of the "state of the art" in citizenship education in schools in the hemisphere. On the same theme, the Education Ministers are expected to launch a new Inter-American Program on Education for Democratic Values and Practices, to support policy making in this area by sponsoring new research and opportunities for training and information exchange on education for democratic citizenship.

The host minister, Trinidad and Tobago’s Minister of Education Hazel Manning, has heralded the upcoming Tobago meeting with her hemispheric colleagues as “a time for us to reflect in a collegial but serious manner about the impact our programs have had, where we need to improve, what is being done right and what we can learn from each other.”

She went on to explain, “This Meeting focuses on the link between a quality education for all, employment and democratic engagement—key concerns of the Caribbean and the rest of the hemisphere in an era of globalization.” Underscoring the significance of her country hosting the event, Manning continued: “The preceding Summits of the Americas and Education Ministerial Meetings have occurred across the hemisphere, but they have not until this moment found their way to the Caribbean.”

Minister Manning also challenged the Caribbean to “assume more of a leadership role in education.” She stressed how fitting it is that the upcoming ministerial event “will also mark the moment when Trinidad and Tobago takes over the helm of the Inter-American Committee on Education from its capable predecessor, Mexico.” She said, “This is an exciting and opportune moment for Trinidad and Tobago and the entire Caribbean region to bring our unique perspective to the deliberations of this technical body that the Ministers rely upon for follow up and guidance."

Before concluding, the meeting will review and adopt a Declaration of the IV Meeting of Ministers of Education of the Americas.

Reference: E-163/05