Consultations to improve Region’s education and human resources launched in Guyana

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) on Monday, 17 October, in Guyana, launched the first in a series of consultations geared to improve the Region’s education system and human resources. Other consultations will be held across the CARICOM Member States  and are expected to provide insight for the crafting of a Regional Education and Human Resource Development Strategy.

Speaking at the official opening at the   National Centre for Education Resource Development (NCERD),  Guyana’s  Minister of Education, Hon. Rupert Roopnaraine, reflected that the consultations represented another important step in the  pursuit of  the Founding Fathers’ mandate  when they signed the Treaty of Chaguaramas in 1973.

Today’s consultation is one in a series of territorial consultations which are being convened to ensure that the proposed regional education and human resource development strategy 2030 is reflective of the collective will of the people of the Caribbean Community, Minister Roopnarine said.

He added that the consultations provided an opportunity for the crafting of a strategy that will enable the full development of the Community’s human resource; to make it more cohesive and productive and externally acceptable and competitive.

The strategy would help build the future and foundation of the Region’s society… If education fails, everything else fails, he also said.

Programme Manager for Human Resource Development at the CARICOM Secretariat Dr. Eduardo Ali, who was part of the session  moderated  by Guyana’s Chief Education Officer Mr. Marcel Hutson, provided a brief background to the project. He explained that the strategy was being crafted within a larger context which took on board the global environment, particularly the Region’s commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  Issues of inclusivity and equity are very important, he said.

The HRD Commission, responsible for drafting the strategy, was launched in May 2016.  Following the launch, a draft of the strategy was done and the consultations are expected to further   feed into the development of the final strategy.

Consultations will be held in Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Belize, The Bahamas and Jamaica. A joint consultation for all OECS Member States will be hosted in Saint Lucia.