CARICOM to place more emphasis on early childhood education
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| Published on Monday, November 17, 2008 |
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GEORGETOWN, GUYANA: Strengthening of the early childhood care and development sector of the Caribbean is high on the agenda of the Seventeenth Meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) later this month in Guyana.
According to the CARICOM Secretariat in Georgetown, this will be done by the introduction of regional guidelines for policy regulations and standards in the delivery of early childhood services.
The COHSOD, at its opening ceremony on 17 November, will launch the Regional Guidelines that will provide practical guidance to early childhood officers who are responsible for delivering quality early childhood development experience in the Region.
“The Guidelines are intended to provide a roadmap that can be easily followed by anyone wishing to establish, review and/or strengthen policy and regulatory frameworks within the Early Childhood Care and Development sector. They begin with a discussion of the practical reasons for policy and regulatory frameworks. They then elaborate in detail on each reason, clarifying the main elements that need to be included in a policy and regulatory framework. The final section deals with the type of management and administrative structures that are needed to facilitate effective implementation of policies and regulations” the secretariat says in a release.
The meeting will also evaluate the progress made in education for the past ten years and to devise ways of expediting the education agenda within the CARICOM, with emphasis on functional cooperation in several critical areas including the Caribbean Vocation Qualification (CVQ).
The treatment of teacher education and training in this age of new information technologies, and the work of the Caribbean Knowledge Learning Network (CKLN) will be reviewed within the context of how it can facilitate distance training and education at tertiary levels.
At the COHSOD, CXC Director, Dr Didacus Jules will share his Vision for the Caribbean Examinations Council. It is anticipated that this new vision will engender vigorous discussion among Ministers and provide useful insights into the strategic positioning of CXC in fostering regional development through education.
A noteworthy feature of this COHSOD is that approximately seven new ministers of education will be attending and are expected to complement the Meeting with new and fresh perspectives the implications of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) for education and importantly, an assessment of the achievements and implementation gaps in the regional education agenda.
The meeting will be held at the Guyana International Convention Centre, Georgetown, under the theme, Accelerating the Implementation of the Education Agenda, on November 17 and 18. | | | | Reads : 1201 | | | |
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