17CCEM Stakeholders Forum 2009
The 17th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (17CCEM) will take place in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in June 2009, and marks 50 years since the first such conference was held in the United Kingdom in 1959. Commonwealth education ministers meet every three years to discuss issues of mutual concern and interest. The 2009 meeting will build on the agreements and decisions taken at the previous gathering in Cape Town, South Africa, as well as focusing on the chosen theme that will be determined prior to the event.
17CCEM will feature a Stakeholders' Forum (for civil society, academia and the private sector), a Youth Forum, a Teachers' Forum, and for the first time a University Vice-Chancellors' Forum, each of which will present a statement to Education Ministers on the outcomes of their discussions. 17CCEM will also see the culmination of the second round of the Education Good Practice Awards, which was launched on 30 April at the Commonwealth Secretariat and open for submissions until 31 October 2008. The awards recognise good practice in six action areas identified by ministers at the 15CCEM held in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 2003.
The Commonwealth Foundation is leading the planning for the Stakeholders' Forum, the largest of the parallel events, in conjunction with the Malaysian Ministry of Education.
As part of this, in February 2008 the Foundation held a consultation with UK-based Commonwealth education networks and a delegation from the Government of Malaysia. This meeting agreed on the importance of making connections and building partnerships across a number of sectors as an overriding theme of the Forum.
The preliminary meetings also emphasised the need to work towards promoting understanding between Commonwealth citizens in areas such as student mobility and exchange programmes. There was consensus on a commitment to promote diversity, respect and understanding and finding ways to take this forward.
To develop the themes and sub-themes of the Stakeholders Forum, and ensure that civil society is able to shape the Forum, the Commonwealth Foundation will shortly be holding two civil society consultations - an e-consultation, to be taking place via this website shortly, and a national consultation in Malaysia in late May 2008.
The e-consultation will be launched on this site soon.
There are no topics at present.
