Secretary-General’s Remarks – Thirty-Eighth COHSOD

I welcome you to this session of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) which is focussing on Education, one of the foundations of our Community’s future.

The World Bank’s 2018 World Development Report submits that education delivers consistent returns, including in terms of income, as globally, there is a 9% increase in hourly earnings for one extra year of schooling.  Thus, strategic investments in people is critical to poverty reduction, economic growth, and social transformation.

Human Resource Development must be one of the main engines for regional growth and development.

It was one of the driving forces that moved our Heads of Government to call for and approve the CARICOM Human Resource Development 2030 Strategy.  The Strategy provides a roadmap for converged action by CARICOM Member States in the fields of education and training with the intent of “Unlocking Caribbean Human Potential”.

At the heart of this Strategy is the prioritisation of the construction, by 2030, of a globally competitive, innovative, and seamlessly integrated education system to drive inclusive sustainable development in the Region.

The key now is taking action to realise the vision of the HRD 2030 Strategy.  This Thirty-Eighth Meeting of the COHSOD is then aptly themed ‘Moving From Vision To Action.’  The issues to be discussed illustrate, in concrete terms, the actions needed at the level of Member States, the CARICOM Secretariat and by some of our regional institutions, if the aspirations for Caribbean human potential are to be realised.

Over the next two days, this Council is asked to seek consensus and articulate concrete actions on a number of issues including:

• the need for a holistic response to the implementation of the HRD Strategy which requires increased and deepened inter-connectivity between regional and national agencies. It calls for the promotion of shared responsibility and ownership for the vision of the Strategy;
• active leadership at all levels to ensure sustainability for the innovative institutional mechanisms needed in Member States and regionally to be implemented, enforced and monitored for impact; and
• the need to critically examine, at the local and regional levels, the barriers that stymie quality educational delivery and human capital development at all levels of the education system.

Such a critical examination must take into account the importance of quality teaching.  Teacher quality has a strong determining influence on the success or failure of our students. Persistently high failure rates in specific subject areas, such as maths, cannot solely be attributed to the students. It calls for an assessment of the teaching methods at all levels to identify the strengths and weaknesses in order to create a more beneficial result for the students.

As Ministers, you will be aware of the competing demands on already stretched national budgets. You will no doubt have made the case in your Cabinets for prioritising the financing of education and training. Into that category falls the HRD 2030 Strategy. The reality is it cannot be practically realised in the absence of investment to support its implementation. As stated earlier, it is an investment with high returns.

A Finance and Costing Plan is before you which provides an estimate of the costs to successfully implement the Strategy.  It uses best practices in costing and financing of education and training systems and takes into consideration the regional context within which the Strategy will be implemented.  The Plan also suggests possible methods and sources of financing.

Other issues which affect the delivery of the Strategy, but are also important by themselves, are down for discussion on the Agenda. These include the establishment of a safe and healthy school environment.  Establishing safe and healthy schools is being advanced as a means to address violence in schools.  Safe schools promote the protection of students from violence, exposure to weapons and threats, theft, bullying, and the sale and use of illegal substances on school grounds.

Data on school-based violence in the Caribbean have revealed increasing incidences of violence in both primary and secondary schools.  School-based violence has been associated with poor attendance, decline in performance, high drop-out levels and decreased academic achievement.

Low educational attainment is associated with poor employment opportunities and crime and violence, which ultimately impacts on sustainable development of the Region.

Today’s meeting will look at results from three complementary strategies which are being implemented to address the challenge. These are aimed at improving the schools’ environment, as well as strengthening social and life skills among students, their peers and families.

Another very relevant issue for your attention has come to the fore with the review of the Health and Family Life Education (HFLE) curriculum.  That review has highlighted a gap in attention to issues related to unhealthy eating and inadequate exercise, major risk factors for chronic Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs).  NCDs are the leading cause of death and disability in the Region.  Further, unhealthy eating and inadequate exercise have been identified as major factors in the increasing rate of childhood obesity in our Community.

In many CARICOM Member States, the level of overweight and obesity is more than 30% in both primary and secondary school populations.

In the medium-term, obesity in children represents the greatest threat to the health of future generations.  Every avenue to arrest that trend must be followed, and this must be taken into account as you look at the review of the HFLE curriculum.

The matters before you require deep interrogation.  I am certain that you will have productive discussions over the next two days. I look forward to the conclusions which should ensure that this Community becomes a globally competitive, knowledge and skilled society by 2030.

We must commit to continue investing in our human resources, to contribute to the resilience we need, to prosper and grow and become the viable Caribbean Community that we all desire.

I thank you.

Source: CARICOM TODAY