Convened on the 24th of January 2019, EMAG members met almost one year since the 20th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (20CCEM) which was hosted by the Government of Fiji in February last year.
Consisting of ten (10) member countries, EMAG comprises of the Education Ministers of Fiji as Chair, The Bahamas, Botswana, Jamaica, India, Kenya, Malta, Nigeria, Sri Lanka and Vanuatu.
In welcoming members, the Chair, Minister Akbar expressed gratitude on behalf of the Government of Fiji to those that had attended the 20th Commonwealth Countries Education Ministers meeting last year.
She further added that Fiji as current chair of the committee, is committed to the implementation of the Nadi Declaration Action Plan, which prescribes the outcomes of the last CCEM as well as mandates by the Heads of Government.
Secretary-General, the Rt. Hon Patricia Scotland QC who was also part of the forum, welcomed members on behalf of the Secretariat, and highlighted the Secretariat’s support to the EMAG body, tasked with spearheading the efficient and successful implementation of the respective commitments made in the Nadi Declaration.
Given that this is the first EMAG meeting since the 20CCEM, members began the discussions with reviewing and agreeing on the Terms of Reference (TOR) for the group, aimed at strengthening their oversight and advocacy role.
The Education Ministers were provided an update on the implementation of the CHOGM and CCEM mandates, as well as the pillars of the Nadi Declaration Action Plan as key outcomes of the CCEM.
Members following this comprehensive exchange, were then provided an opportunity to provide an update on their status of implementation of the key thematic areas of the Action Plan, which pertain to Education and Governance, Building resilience through Education, Education for Sustainable Development as well as Strengthening Educational partnerships.
Minister Akbar in briefing members on Fiji’s implementation of the Nadi Declaration, highlighted that Govt. has allocated $1 billion, which is just under 22% (the Incheon Declaration calls for 20%) which equates to about 0,9% of GDP.
The Education Minister further highlighted that the phenomenal issue of climate change has been included in our curriculum and we are working with Australia’s DFAT, Save the Children and UNICEF on an Emergency in Education package to be piloted in schools. She added that as part of our infrastructure audit and our recent experiences with natural disasters, we are looking at upgrading the school infrastructure to withstand cyclones and floods.
The Hon. Minister also gave a brief on the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan and Commonwealth Climate Resilience Network where Fiji has contributed a once off payment of £5000 to the program.
Coordinated by the Association of Commonwealth Universities, the current arrangement is such that the University of the South Pacific will host one scholarship for a student from the Caribbean to study for a Master’s in Climate Change, offered by the Pacific Centre for Environment and Sustainable Development, from January 2020. Fiji National University will also host one scholarship for a student from the Caribbean on its new interdisciplinary Master’s in Climate Change Mitigation and Resilience, from January 2020, inviting applications from April 2019.
Reciprocally, the University of the West Indies will host two scholarships for students from the Pacific in 2019 and 2020 studying for Master’s in subjects relating to Climate Change, inviting applications in December 2018 and December 2019.
Under the thematic area on Education for Sustainable Development, Minister Akbar highlighted that a major development carried out concerning Early childhood education (ECE) is its curriculum review and our pre-school teachers are now on the Ministry’s payroll i.e. they are now civil servants
She further indicated that with regards to our Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET), Fiji through Queensland University of Technology and supported by a consultant from the Commonwealth of Learning, is currently reviewing our TVET program.
Minister Akbar further indicated that Fiji continues to work very closely with the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), Commonwealth of Learning (COL), PIFS, SPC and the UN agencies including UNESCO, UNICEF and WHO.
In terms of our membership to the respective Commonwealth bodies, the Hon. Minister indicated that Fiji was honored to become a member of the Commonwealth of Learning in February 2018, enabling us to access support through expertise and advice on technologically enhanced learning.
All in all, Fiji remains a committed supporter of all Commonwealth Secretariat related programs and we look forward to chairing the first ever Commonwealth Accelerated Development Mechanism for Education (CADME) Technical Working Group Meeting that is scheduled for the second week of May.