Nairobi hosts Commonwealth Education Ministers meeting

Education ministers from 54 countries are currently meeting in Nairobi to discuss some of the Commonwealth’s most pressing education challenges.

The two-day Commonwealth Conference of Education Ministers that begins today brings together the member states' partners and stakeholders to discuss education priorities. 

Education Cabinet Secretary Prof George Magoha is expected to lead the Kenyan delegation to the meeting taking place at Safari Park Hotel.

Also to attend the meeting are Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) teachers, actors, higher education and members of the civil society organizations.

The theme for this year's meeting is ‘’Rethinking education for innovation work and Sustainability post-Covid -19.’’

The meeting will see participants focus on critical areas of recovery in education. 

Apart from post-Covid-19, other areas of focus include digital transformation, effective governance and transition from school to work.

Today's sessions will include a ministerial Panel on regional perspectives and priorities, a panel speaking to research, evidence and policies around key sub-themes, ministerial Roundtable and Lessons learned from Covid-19 mitigation and recovery strategies.

Also to be discussed are Rethinking Education for Decent Work and Employability, Redefining Learning Spaces, Multiple Pathways and Flexible Approaches, Financing of Education including Innovative Financing and Education for Sustainability and a Peaceful Cohesive Commonwealth.

The meeting comes after another one which was held last year where ministers committed to ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and promoting lifelong learning opportunities for all.

The conference will also offer an opportunity to address key areas of how member states managed the Covid-19 disruption.

Sustainable development goals

The meeting will also build on commitments toward the attainment of sustainable development goals.

The is the most important forum for deliberation on the Commonwealth education and learning agenda and its relationship with other sustainable development priorities. 

The CCEM is the second-largest meeting organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat after the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).

CCEMs have been taking place roughly every three years since 1959 when the first meeting was held in Oxford.

It is also where the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan (CSFP), an intra-Commonwealth network of post-graduate study opportunities that boasts alumni in excess of 25,000 citizens – including several Heads of Government was held.

The series of conferences, previously known as Commonwealth Education Conferences (CEC) was restyled as the Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (CCEM) on the 25th anniversary in 1984 on the occasion of the 9th Conference in Cyprus.