In view of the location for the 19th CCEM, over the course of the event a number of specific activities were convened to discuss education in small Commonwealth states and to develop recommendations for Ministerial consideration. Throughout these activities colleagues from the University of Bristol's Graduate School of Education, were closely involved and made a number of invited presentations.
Saturday 20 June and Sunday 21 June 2015 consisted of a special Civil Society Forum on Education and Sustainable Development in Small States on the theme of ‘The Quality and Equity Imperatives’ . This was organised by the Commonwealth Foundation.
- Full coverage of the Civil Society Forum, including some videos and the final statement resulting from the two days of discussions and which was put forward for ministerial consideration.
At this two day event, Bristol research on education in small states was highly visible. On the first morning an Opening Address on Educational Priorities, Partnerships and Sustainable Development in Small States was given by Cabot Institute member Professor Michael Crossley. Day two saw invited presentations by Nicholas Watts and Cabot Institute member Terra Sprague in the follow on thematic breakout sessions.
Nicholas, of the Commonwealth Human Ecology Council and Visiting Fellow with the Graduate School of Education, was a respondent and presenter for a session titled “Using ICTs, ODL, and flexible education - building the education system of small states”. This was led by the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) and addressed developments in the VirtualUniversity for Small States of the Commonwealth (VUSSC).
Terra presented on environmental resilience in a session on vulnerability and resilience in small island developing states (SIDS) and drew upon preliminary findings from her doctoral study of environmental resilience. Finally, Her Excellency Dame Pearlette Louisy, Governor General of St Lucia, and distinguished Bristol Alumni, joined a panel of esteemed guests in a Policy Dialogue Session at which the outcomes from the 10 breakout group sessions were presented and to which Dame Pearlette and the other guests responded.
Monday 22 June saw a special, day long, Small States Forum for Ministers and Senior Officials. This was convened by the Commonwealth Secretariat, bringing the small states community, including, civil society, to the wider CCEM table for discussion. Participants throughout the day included Ministers of Education from many small states, chaired by the Honourable Jerome K Fitzgerald, Minister of Education, Science and Technology, the Bahamas.
An opening Keynote Presentation was given by Dame Pearlette on the theme of Educational Development in Small States: Current challenges and opportunities. This drew directly upon the work of the Education in Small States Research Group within the Graduate School of Education, and did much to stimulate Ministerial discussion throughout the day and during the wider CCEM itself. Professor Crossley concluded the Small States Forum and delivered the Closing Address by considering The Post-2015 Agenda for Education and highlighting key implications for small states.
Running concurrently, from Monday 22 June and continuing to Friday 26 June, The Stakeholder Forum was one of a number of fora that ran alongside the Ministerial Meetings and debates. During these days, the University of Bristol was again well represented with a series of invited contributions and participation in the wider Commonwealth Ministerial debates. Publications launched at the CCEM which may be of interest include the book Commonwealth Education Partnerships, 2015-16 Edition
To read more about the CCEM, you can find links, videos and updates on the 19 CCEM Facebook Page; 19 CCEM official website; the Stakeholder Forum website and the 19 CCEM Nassau Ministerial Declaration is now available to download.