PHILIPSBURG:— Minister of Education, Culture, Youth and Sport, Wycliffe Smith, attended a regional conference of Ministers of Education from Latin America and the Caribbean. The conference was organized and sponsored by UNESCO and was held in Cochabamba, Bolivia from July 25 – 26, 2018. The meetings were convened to discuss the way forward concerning the 2030 Education Agenda which is a plan to promote the development and the quality of education by the year 2030. Leading up to the two day Ministerial Conference, the UNESCO had also organized high level technical meetings for the leadership of Departments of Education. Minister Smith and the Minister of Education of Suriname were the only ministers in attendance at the high level technical meetings. As a result of attending these meetings Minister Smith was asked to make a presentation regarding Sint Maarten at the plenary session of the Ministers of Education on Wednesday, July 25th. Smith shared with his colleagues and their support teams concerning the challenges and struggles that a small twin-island nation is faced with when trying to implement the educational goals set forth by UNESCO in 2015. Smith highlighted two major challenges, namely the lack of human capacity as well as insufficient funds. Smith was joined on this panel by colleague Ministers of Education, the Honorable Soares da Silva from Brazil and Lopez Rivas from Guatamala. At the end of the two day Ministerial Conference, all Ministers signed on to an agreement to be guided by the UNESCO Roadmap 2018-2030, to promote and develop education in order to insure inclusive and equitable quality education as well as promote lifelong learning opportunities for all by 2030. This will mean adapting local policy and plans and aligning them with the Roadmap. This also means strengthening collaboration between ministries, departments and divisions in order to support and promote the achievement of the 2030 Agenda. Minister Smith had the opportunity to network and establish contact with colleague Ministers such as the Hon. Armando Lampe from Aruba, Hon. Lilian Ferrier from Suriname and Hon. Michael Brown from Antigua. Minister Smith said that he was proud to be able to represent Sint Maarten at such a high level and high powered UNESCO Ministerial Conference.
Source: St. Martin News Network http://www.smn-news.com/st-maarten-st-martin-news/29770-minister-smith-attends-unesco-meeting-in-boliva.html
View comments
Hide comments