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.

As part of the managed migration scheme, which hopes to primarily address the departure of teachers and nurses from the Region to developed countries, the Region will look to the recipient countries to play a leading role in providing training for those persons, to ensure that they are fully equipped for the international job market.

Another major accomplishment of the Education Ministers at the Meeting of the COHSOD was the agreement to establish a preliminary framework to standardise the accreditation of Associate Degrees in the Region. Against this backdrop, the COHSOD has mandated the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) to collaborate with Regional community colleges and training agencies for the rationalisation of Associate Degrees.

Guyana's Education Minister, Dr Henry Jeffrey told the media that the COHSOD has earmarked April 2005 for the formal institution of a common standard across the Region for the accreditation of associate degrees.

Meanwhile, the issues of drug abuse and violence among the Region's youth were also discussed by Education Ministers, who hope to soon preside over a draft document which will speak to early childhood development. According to Minister of Education of Trinidad and Tobago and Chairperson of COHSOD XI, Senator the Hon. Hazel Manning, the draft document conceptualises the introduction of a Caribbean Sesame Street for pre-school children within the Region.

Minister Manning said through the early childhood programmes that will be developed in the schools curriculum, educators hope to impart moral values and life lessons that will guide future action and stem the reduction of violence in the school system.

Contact:

Rose Blenman
E-mail: rblenman@caricom.org