The Tribune

THE Commonwealth Education Good Practice Awards were launched at Marlborough House in London on Wednesday of last week.

The awards will be presented at the 19th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (19CCEM) held in Nassau from June 22 to 26, 2015.

The announcement was made by Eldred Bethel, High Commissioner for the Bahamas, and Deodat Maharaj, Deputy Secretary-General of the Commonwealth Secretariat.

The purpose of the awards is to focus on educational issues and highlight good practices in Commonwealth countries, including programmes, policies, projects or strategies that have made a positive difference to school students, their teachers, or the education system of a country.

The awards also serve to highlight promising or innovative educational practices that could become models in other Commonwealth nations.

High Commissioner Bethel explained to the Commonwealth diplomats at the launch that although various countries are feeling constraints of limited budgets today, they must not lose sight of the importance of education.

“The Bahamas believes everyone benefits when we invest in education. Education transforms individual lives: empowering people to pursue their dreams of a better life and expand their human potential. Education gets a lion share of the annual Bahamas Government Budget,” said Mr Bethel.

The Bahamas also will be the venue for the 19th Commonwealth Education Ministers Meeting, which is the second largest Commonwealth meeting after the Heads of Government Meeting. Fifty-three Commonwealth Education Ministers, senior officials and stakeholders are expected to attend.

“They can be assured of great warmth and hospitality. We want to do everything possible to make the visit to Nassau memorable and we are making special arrangements to show you the warmth of Bahamian hospitality,” said the High Commissioner.

The awards have been steadily growing with the previous round attracting submissions from 27 countries. A community based educational project in Rwanda won in the last round of awards.

Submissions are open to education ministries and institutions, schools and civil society organisations from around the Commonwealth and will be evaluated by independent adjudicators on their relevance to the local context, measurable impact, sustainability, efficiency and effectiveness, community involvement, and ability to be replicated. The four finalists will be invited to the Bahamas and their projects profiled during the 19CCEM where the winners will be announced.

Applications are available at www.thecommonwealth.org/education. Submission deadline is January 16, 2015.