The 34th Meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) opened at Theatre Guild on Wednesday with Regional Education Ministers and Officials considering the Regional Action Plan for the Human Resource Development 2030 Strategy.

The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretary General, Irwin LaRocque; CARICOM Assistant Secretary General, Dr. Douglas Slater; COHSOD Chair and Minister of Education, Youth and Culture – Suriname, Lillian Ferrier; Guyana’s Education Minister, Nicolette Henry; Deputy Premier and Minister of Education Youth Affairs and Sport – Montserrat; and Vice Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Dr. Ivelaw Griffith were among those present at the opening ceremony.

The Human Resource Development 2030 Strategy was endorsed by Heads of Government last July. Subsequently, a Regional Action Plan for the Strategy for the period 2018-2020 was developed.

On Wednesday, the CARICOM General Secretary said the COHSOD Meeting creates a platform for Ministers to agree on the regional actions and on a coordinated approach to advance the implementation of the overall strategy.

“Implementation is key so that we can address the deficiencies at all levels in the education system: in early childhood development, at both the primary and secondary levels, in tertiary education; and lifelong learning. This is to ensure that the people of the Region are adequately equipped with 21st century skills and competencies,” LaRocque told those present.

He noted that significant progress has been made in region since the advent of self-governance, explaining that Caribbean nationals inherited an education system which was not tailored for their peculiar needs, and attempts at stifling their inherent creativity. Despite the obstacles and challenges faced, LaRocque said the region now has literacy rates about 90 percent.

For him, the strategy can be seen as another step in the evolution of the development of the region’s human capital.

“It seeks to develop the ideal Caribbean person in all of us, but especially in our youth. With such a grounding our people will be able to demonstrate the attributes of good citizenship, integrity, professionalism and innovativeness,” the CARICOM Secretary General noted.

Guyana’s Education Minister, in delivering brief remarks, noted that access to quality education is the right of every child.

Health and education, she said, must remain high on the agendas for governments as they develop their countries at a time when human resources are scarce.
In Guyana, she said, the Government has recognised that quality education is reflected in an education system that provides the knowledge, skills, values and attitudes which respond to national and global needs and expectations.

“Educating a nation is a cross cutting endeavour. When your nations are educated on all aspects of life; academically, economically and socially then our citizens will be able to create a society that is powerfully confident in its existence,” she said.

Minister Henry noted too that at the Ministerial level she and her officers are working on arriving at policies and programmes designed to respond to the needs of other countries and improve efficiency and effectiveness and quality in both health and education sectors. “In the education sector we have enjoyed fruitful valuable partnership with local regional and international partners,” she posited.

Over the next two days there is a lot of work to do as the organs of the Caribbean Community work together to fulfill the requirements of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), she emphasized.

Chair of COHSOD and Minister of Education, Youth and Culture, Suriname, Lillian Ferrier noted too that the Strategy addresses several of the issues articulated not only by the region’s youth but by their parents, teachers and the wider community.

The successful implementation of the Human Resource Development Strategy is critical part of the Region’s response to the UN Sustainable Development Goal 4 which seeks to ensure “inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all.”

The two-day COHSOD meeting is being held under the theme “Positioning Human Resource Development as Central to Caribbean Resilience and Development.”