Regional Education Ministers meet for Human Resource Development Strategy

Guyana was host to Education Ministers from across the Caribbean who met to examine a Human Resource Development strategy, aimed at strengthening the region’s requirements for its 21st century economy and society.

The ministers, joined by senior education officials and other regional education stakeholders at the 32nd Meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD), examined the Caricom Human Resource Development 2030 Strategy and Action Plan ahead of its submission to the Heads of Government in July later this year.

Caricom Secretary General Irwin LaRocque, addressing the opening ceremony, said the 2030 Strategy had a number of proposals for action. Among them were hot-button issues such as male participation in education; skills required for 21st century demands; the use of technology within the learning environment, and capitalising on the Region’s innate creative skill to ensure it becomes a medium for personal and regional development. He stressed the critical importance of moving Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics from concepts to real practical outcomes of the educational experience for life skills.

“The importance of getting this Strategy right cannot be overstated. The preparation of our young minds to confront the challenges and accept the opportunities, in the ever-evolving global environment is one of our primary tasks,” the Secretary General told the education officials.

The draft Strategy is the work of a Caricom Human Resource Development Commission, mandated by Caricom Heads, and comprising leading experts in education and training, along with representatives of the Region’s Private Sector; labour; health; Information Technology and Communication (ICT) and youth bodies. It is chaired by the Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister of St Kitts-Nevis, Shawn Richards.

“The quality and depth of our human capital is what will drive our development and propel the Community towards the sustainable, viable and prosperous society that we seek. It can be our bulwark against the ills that are threatening to upset our social order,” the Secretary General added.

COHSOD Chairman St Clair Prince, who is also the Education Minister of St Vincent and the Grenadines, spoke to the importance of a strong focus on social values.

“Decent jobs for all and a future-focused highly skilled workforce are not the only prospects we have for a Caricom Region by 2030,” he noted.

He continued, “the Region recognises that as member states, individually and collectively, aspire towards building modern developed societies by investing in HRD [Human Resource Development], equal attention must be placed on values-based education by concentrating on the development of morality, ethics and spiritual consciousness in what is being learned at all levels of the system.”

Former Vice Chancellor of the University of the West Indies and current Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Professor Nigel Harris cautioned that the challenge for the draft HRD strategy may be “to get the buy-in, enthusiasm, financial resources and sustained interest of the many countries involved”. He, however, emphasised the need to reach the many undeserved communities, which he said account for many of the adverse outcomes affecting the society.

“A critical element of success of this strategic paper will depend on our Governments emphasising the need to mobilise the interest and enthusiasm of deprived communities, which lack the stable family structures, the economic and other support factors necessary for the full intellectual and emotional growth of their young people,” he said.

The work on the Human Resource Development Strategy is receiving financial and technical support from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).