“So today, as we discuss the strategic actions that we will take to Strengthen the Region’s Education System, I encourage you to see the Caribbean Community as One People. As we review the CARICOM Human Resource Development 2030 Strategy, we do so knowing that we are on One Journey – even if we are at different points. And when we look at transforming education in the Region, we do so against the backdrop of shaping One prosperous common Future for all.”
Mr Elvis Morain, Chair of the Meeting of Officials ahead of the 48th Meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) – Education and Permanent Secretary with responsibility for Human Resource and Educational Development at the Ministry of Education, Grenada.
“When we look at transforming education in the Region, we do so against the backdrop of shaping one prosperous common future for all.” These sentiments were shared by Mr Elvis Morain, Chair of the Meeting of Officials ahead of the 48th Meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) – Education and Permanent Secretary with Responsibility for Human Resource and Educational Development at the Ministry of Education, Grenada.
The CARICOM Secretariat hosted the virtual meeting today, Friday, 18 October, to provide a platform for stakeholders in the Region’s education sector to discuss crucial issues, including implementing the CARICOM Human Resource Development (HRD) 2030 Strategy.
The Chair asserted that the Meeting’s deliberations on optimising the CARICOM HRD 2030 Strategy would support achieving the Region’s ambitious educational goals for 2030.
He also lauded the Meeting’s focus on transforming education in the CARICOM Region. Mr Morain remarked that he was optimistic that the discussions would assist in creating opportunities for partnerships across Member States to share experiences, ideas and innovative practices.
Please read the speech below.
Meeting of Officials Ahead of 48TH Meeting of the
Council for Human and Social Development – Education
Mr Elvis Morain
Permanent Secretary with Responsibility for Human Resource and Educational Development,
Ministry of Education, Grenada,
Chair’s Remarks
Salutations,
- Mrs. Helen Royer, Director, Human Development, CARICOM Secretariat
- Permanent Secretaries
- Chief Education officers
- Programme Manager, Human Resource Development, CARICOM Secretariat
- Deputy Programme Manager, Education
- Delegates, partners and special invitees
Good morning!
It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to this Preparatory Meeting of the Officials ahead of the Forty-Eighth Meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) Education, which will be held in Port of Spain, Trinidad on 24 – 25 October 2024
Friends and colleagues from across the Caribbean Community, I greet you warmly.
I bring you greetings from the Minister of Education of Grenada, Senator the Honorable David Andrew.
It gives me great pleasure to take up the mantle of chairmanship of COHSOD as the Permanent Secretary with responsibility for Human Resource and Educational Development in the Ministry of Education, Grenada. This is my first meeting in this capacity, but I am assured that, with the able support of the CARICOM team and your commitment, the task will be made light. I wish to commend the outgoing chair (Dominica) for an excellent work done during their tenure as chair and look forward to continuing the work.
My country, Grenada, just celebrated our 50th anniversary of independence, under the theme “One People. One Journey. One Future”. As I look back on what Grenada has been able to achieve in the last 50 years, I am imbued with a tremendous sense of pride.
However, the theme of our independence celebrations is also a point of reflection and examination. The theme is both a description of how we have arrived here and an affirmation of how we will move forward.
One People.
One Journey.
One Future.
With humility, I wish to use the few remarks I will make this morning to submit to this Meeting that the theme for Grenada’s independence celebrations can be easily adopted to guide how we approach our deliberations today and how we conceptualise our roles moving forward. As Caribbean educators, we are on one common journey, staring down the same future.
So today, as we discuss the strategic actions that we will take to Strengthen the Region’s Education System, I encourage you to see the Caribbean Community as One People.
As we review the CARICOM Human Resource Development 2030 Strategy, we do so knowing that we are on One Journey – even if we are at different points.
And when we look at transforming education in the Region, we do so against the backdrop of shaping One prosperous common Future for all.
It is through this unified approach that we will create the framework for the sharing of effective practices across the Region and develop complementary lines of action that will unlock our full potential in order to move the Region forward.
We stand on the cusp of 2030 when so many of our ambitious educational goals are to be achieved. For this reason, I am pleased to see that today’s agenda allows for a discussion of how the implementation of the CARICOM HRD 2030 Strategy can be optimized.
I am also pleased that the Meeting will focus on the Transformation of Education in the CARICOM Region. I am optimistic that these discussions will help us create opportunities for partnerships across Member States in order to share experiences, ideas and innovative practices.
Colleagues, we have an ambitious agenda ahead of us and I ask you for your support through robust discussion on the items for today’s Meeting, but more than that, I ask you for your commitment as we work to advance the Region’s education system.
