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Reform
Policies Aim to Unify Region in the Caribbean
By Peter Richards
Inter Press Service
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PORT OF SPAIN, Apr 4 (IPS) - The seven-member Organisation of
Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) is revamping its education system
to ''advance'' the integration of the sub-region. |
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In 1991, OECS education ministers created the OECS Education
Reform Unit (OERU) to make education ''more relevant and better
able to advance the development of member states through the
educational growth of its human resource base.'' |
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OECS officials told IPS the Reform Unit has acted as a curriculum
developer, information facilitator, legal draughtsman, teacher-trainer
and education strategist, and is hoping to be a ''bridge-maker
between the public and private sector.''
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The OERU is also working towards strengthening the management
and administration practices in the individual Education Ministry's
in the Caribbean, while networking with regional and international
educational organisations.
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''Underlying most of the goals of the OERU is the effort to
harmonise the professional components of the sub-region,''
says the head of the St. Lucia-based Education Reform Unit,
Lorna Callender.
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The Reform Unit, she explained, has already been instrumental
in developing a ''model'' education bill for adaptation and
adoption by member states. So far two countries, Dominica
and St. Lucia, have enacted the new legislation.
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Grade names have been standardised in all schools throughout
the sub-region. Now the Reform Unit is in the process of organising
workshops aimed at ''harmonising objectives and best practices
in several subject areas.''
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''At a tertiary level, efforts are being made to establish a
tertiary College Council, to harmonise accreditation practices,
associate degree criteria and to link library access through
technology,'' according to Callender. |
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''Apart from access and quality, we want to empower teachers
to take on leadership positions and by enhancing the human resources
of the country ... We want to ensure that we build a better,
more humane and civil society because there is the desire to
educate the child more holistically now,'' says Callender. |
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The OECS groups Dominica, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and
the Grenadines, Montserrat, Antigua and St. Kitts-Nevis. They
share a common currency, a central bank, The Eastern Caribbean
Central Bank (ECCB), and a common market for the sub-region.
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The common education initiative was launched after the 1990
global meeting in Jomtien, Thailand, where participating countries
agreed to pursue an 'Education for All' goal. |
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A year later, the OECS set up a task force to develop an education
blueprint -- based on proposals which had been presented to
the region's education ministers at their meeting in the British
Virgin Islands. |
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The document titled 'Foundations for the Future' outlines 65
strategies; and covered all areas -- networking, management
and administration, enhancement, sustainability and participation.
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Raymond O'Keefe, education officer at the OERU, says the reform
process will equip ''individuals ... with more efficient methods
and tools for taking on the challenges of the new millennium
as dictated by concepts such as globalisation.'' |
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The funds have been provided by the Canadian International Development
Agency (CIDA), the British and German governments, and the European
Union under its Lome III programme. |
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Callender says the funding allows the OERU to implement programmes
that upgrade the skills of teachers as well as provide curriculum
materials for both primary and secondary in-service training
programmes. She says for curriculum development, the Reform
Unit has been holding a number of ''intensive sub-regional workshops
which compare and improve present practices.'' |
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In addition, technical and vocational teachers are being given
assistance to improve their skills at regional colleges, while
postgraduate scholarships are provided through several projects.
The funding also allows for the construction and expansion of
schools across the Caribbean region's seven island states. |
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''In addition, the unit is working to establish Management Information
Systems which reveal, among other things, trends in enrollment
and demography statistics. With these indicators, member states
will be better informed when making decisions related to improving
access,'' Callender explains. |
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Under the reform programme, surveys are conducted to assess
students' attitudes and teachers' work. Using the evidence,
''the (Reform) Unit tries to assist ministries in providing
better guidance (both in school and at home) for students ...
(aimed) at producing more motivated students ... to improve
commitment and satisfaction among teachers,'' says Callender.
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But the OERU recognises there are still some areas to be developed.
These include early childhood education which has now begun
to receive attention and special and continuing education, which
officials admit are ''pending''. |
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''We at the OECS want to make education a lifelong learning
process. The notion is to improve the quality of life of all
individuals in the region,'' says O'Keefe. |
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This article
is free of copyright restrictions and can be reproduced provided
that Inter Press Service is credited. |
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