The Hon. Jerome Fitzgerald, Bahamas Minister of Education, Science and Technology, called on education ministers attending the opening ceremony of the 9th Inter-American Meeting of Ministers of Education (9IAMME) to ensure that their nations’ schools are as good as they can be, and that teachers have the support, education and resources required to not just educate, but to change -- and in some cases save lives.

Minister Fitzgerald said the way forward requires a commitment to “partnership” and “alliance-building.” He expressed optimism that the presentations and dialogue today and tomorrow would strengthen relationships and form the basis for cooperation in the future.

The Education Minister was among officials giving remarks at the official opening of 9IAMME presently underway at Atlantis Resort, Paradise Island. Education officials from the Organization of American States (OAS) have gathered to discuss the state of education in the 35 states, and observer states, during the two-day ministerial forum.

Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, the Rt. Hon. Perry Christie, was present at the opening ceremony, Thursday, February 9. Also in attendance were OAS Secretary General His Excellency Luis Almagro and Vice-President of the World Bank, Latin America and the Caribbean His Excellency Jorge Familiar.

Mr. Fitzgerald said the conference provides an “extraordinary” opportunity to chart the course for education in OAS countries. “When we come together and we share lessons learned, and ideas and strategies for the way forward, we all grow stronger.

“There is a lot of expertise and a lot of passion in this room, and I know we are all ready to harness that energy and channel it into new policies and collaborations that will make a real difference to the students and educators whom we serve.

“Many of us spend a great deal of our time thinking about the children who are most vulnerable in our countries -- who seem to begin their lives with the deck stacked against them. We know that for many of these children, school can be not just life-changing, but life-saving,” he said.

Minister Fitzgerald reminded the education leaders that Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals (which is specific to education) mandates them to “ensure inclusive and quality education for all and to promote lifelong learning.”

The three areas of priority for the leaders are: (1) quality, inclusive and equitable education; (2) strengthening the teaching profession; (3) and comprehensive early childhood care.

Minister Fitzgerald outlined several questions regarding the priority items. They include the following:

How do we reach and serve all of our students?

How do we upgrade our curricula and standards?

How do we make learning life-long?

How do we reward excellence?

How do we best expand our system to our youngest learners, and what does a quality preschool education comprise?

“These are questions that confront Ministers of Education every day, and over the course of this meeting, the work we are doing in these areas will inform our discussions and negotiations. Collectively, we bring many thousands of hours of real-world problem-solving on the front lines of education to these joint efforts to determine the actions needed to make the goals of the Inter-American Agenda a reality.

He said the adoption of the first Inter-American Education Agenda (IEA) by OAS Member States will serve as the framework for the OAS’s work in education and will provide a strong foundation on which to build hemispheric cooperative efforts in education.

In his capacity as Host Minister and Chair of the 9th IAMME, Minister Fitzgerald welcomed the delegates and assured them that The Bahamas would do its best to make the meeting a success.

 

Bahamas Minister of Education, Science and Technology, and Host Minister and Chair of the 9th IAMME, the Hon. Jerome Fitzgerald. (BIS Photo/Peter Ramsay)

 

By Kathryn Campbell

Bahamas Information Services