Council for Education in the Commonwealth is launching an appeal to get children back to school in the Commonwealth Caribbean countries affected by Irma.
Many children across the Commonwealth have been preparing to return to school this week, but for those in the Caribbean, they have instead faced unprecedented destruction caused by the most powerful Atlantic hurricane in recorded history.
Safari Hotel and Conference Centre, Windhoek, Namibia | 28 & 29 August 2017
In the lush surroundings of the Safari Hotel and Conference Centre, over two hundred delegates together with VIPs from the Namibian Government, press and TV crews gathered for the Council for Education in the Commonwealth (CEC) Annual Conference, jointly organised with the University of Namibia. Delegates came from Namibia, Southern and Eastern Africa, Europe, Asia and the Caribbean.
This first venture for the CEC outside the United Kingdom was an ambitious undertaking for everyone involved. Its theme, essentially linkages between higher education and industry and their potential for development, took us out of exclusively academic terrain. We were basing ourselves in a young country, with only a handful of our own members able to be present. It is a pleasure, therefore, to report that the occasion was a great success. The conference was well covered in the local media and attracted highly qualified Namibian and international speakers.
Date: 10 October 2017 | Time: 18:00 to 20:00 | Venue: Committee Room 10, Palace of Westminster
China has become increasingly engaged politically and economically with African nations and the nature of its involvement across the continent is highly varied – while it supports infrastructure development, the service sector, manufacturing and natural resources projects, it’s loans also increase African debt.
But what might be the Chinese motives behind these engagements – political influence or profit? Are they any different from those of Western nations?
Some countries are responding very successfully, as they learn that today, in a time of competition for resources, they can dictate or negotiate terms. But which are successful and which not? What might we all learn from these experiences?
Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland will deliver the keynote address at a major education conference in Namibia next week.
More than 230 people will attend the Council for Education in the Commonwealth’s annual conference in Windhoek from 28 to 30 August, the first time it has been held outside the UK.
In addition to ministers from the Government of Namibia, attendees will include The Association of Commonwealth Universities, the British High Commission, former UNESCO personnel, and a wide range of education stakeholders from across the Commonwealth. There will also be keynote speakers from South Africa, Kenya and Grenada.
The Secretary-General, who is on mission to the African nation for the first time, will also be meeting with President Hage Geingob, as well as other senior figures, to discuss Commonwealth priorities and identify areas of possible collaboration and support.
Read the full article HERE
Just a few weeks away from the CEC Annual Conference to be held for the first time in memory outside of London. Our hosts in Namibia, the University of Namibia (UNAM), have organised a splendid programme over the period 27th – 31st August and some 230 delegates are expected to join with Baroness Scotland, the Commonwealth Secretary-General, Dr Joanna Newman, the Secretary General and CEO of the ACU, and colleagues from CEC to discuss the Conference Objectives:
Venue: Palace of Westminster | Monday 13 March 1015 – 1230
Host: Lord (Tom) McNally, CEC Parliamentary Patron
Chair: Alastair Niven LVO OBE, Board Member, CEC
The year’s Commonwealth Day Westminster Seminar took its focus from this year’s Commonwealth theme: ‘A peace-building Commonwealth’. To address some of the education specific concerns the conference first considered the nature and impact of conflicts, their resolution and the important role of civil society groups within peacbuilding. Positive and negative factors associated with education were identified and some successful interventions suggested that might advise future peacebuilong initiatives.
Date: 28 – 31 Aug 2017 | Venue: Safari Hotel & Conference Centre, Windhoek, Namibia
Registration Fee: International delegates N$5,000 or US$420 (Click HERE to register)
Conference Aim
To explore ways in which education, business and industry can work together to ensure financially sustainable and innovative approaches to education that will teach the new generation of entrepreneurs and teachers to thrive in the 21st Century workplace.
Date: 13 March 2017 | Time: 10:15 to 12:30 | Venue: Houses of Parliament, Committee Room 10, Palace of Westminster
Host: The Rt Hon Lord (Tom) McNally of Blackpool, CEC Parliamentary Patron
At a time of increasing instability and uncertainty in the world, the Commonwealth with its rich diversity of nations offers strength and hope for all its members.
This year’s Commonwealth theme, ‘A peace-building Commonwealth’ reaffirms the Commonwealth Charter principle that ‘international peace and security, sustainable economic growth and development and the rule of law are essential to the progress and prosperity of all’. This seminar will explore, with some examples, the role that education might play in peace building in countries and communities that have experienced conflict and/or are in the process of transformation.
THE IMPACT OF HIGHER EDUCATION RESEARCH AND ADMISSIONS POST BREXIT
Re-establishing the glass ceiling!
Lorb Bilimoria, this year’s guest presenter of the Gladwyn Lecture, provided an eloquent and captivating presentation exploring the multiple likely impacts, on the UK generally and UK’s university and research sectors in particular, of two major government policy changes – Brexit and the restrictive visa regime that directly affected students and foreign academics. He illustrated and explained his arguments through many examples, including personal anecdotes.
A great line-up of employers and education and training professionals debated with an enthusiastic audience, comprising mainly students, at the CEC Autumn Conference in Senate House, University of London. Together they sought to identify some 21st Century needs, explore opportunities, consider the unknowns and address the aspirations of young people. What were their arguments and on what did they agree, and disagree?