Education Minister Approves OECS Meeting

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Education

Monday, 28 May 2012 10:30

By caribarena news

Antigua St John's - Minister of Education Dr Jacqui Quinn Leandro has hailed as very successful the two-day meeting of OECS Ministers of Education just concluded in Basseterre, St Kitts. According to a release, the ministers examined the OECS Sector Strategy for 2012 to 2021.

Under the theme “Every Learner succeeds,” ministers accepted the concept paper as a “strong mandate going forward to assist in the development of education in the region”.

The ministers also discussed early childhood education; the UNICEF Child Friendly Schools initiative; teacher professional development; the CXC CCSLC third form exam and the new Caribbean Primary Exit Assessment; which has been piloted in Grenada and Anguilla.

Minister Quinn-Leandro presented a paper on the concerns about the Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Level Competence, CCSLC and the reservations which parents, teachers and students have expressed about its relevance, currency and cost. The discussion revealed that only limited use of the exam has been operational around the OECS. CXC Registrar Dr Didacus Jules listened to the concerns and committed CXC to reviewing the cost.

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According to Dr Quinn-Leandro, the ministers spent some time mulling the improvement of mathematics across the region, sharing good practices for improving the delivery of mathematics, and devising ways in which region wide training can be put in place to improve the performance in mathematics.

The education ministers also agreed on engaging the University of the West Indies in discussions on the way forward in the expansion and transformation of tertiary education to meet the needs of the OECS region beyond the Open Campus format.

Three territories: Dominica, St Lucia, and Antigua and Barbuda, have already begun to make moves to set up national universities in light of increasing demands for access to tertiary education by their populations. However, discussions centred on  deeper engagement with UWI, which is already acclaimed as opposed to going the route of national universities.

At the end of the meeting, Minister Quinn-Leandro offered to host the  23rd  Meeting of OECS Ministers of Education in Antigua in June 2013.

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