Kenya is later this month set to convene the 21st Commonwealth Conference of Education Ministers (CCEM).

The conference is a high-level meeting that brings together education Ministers from the 52 Commonwealth countries to discuss key issues on education.

Under the theme, ‘Rethinking Education for Innovation, Growth and Sustainability post covid-19’ this year’s conference by the Ministry of Education and in partnership with the Commonwealth Secretariat will be held on the 27-28th April.

The meeting will be held in a hybrid format with Ministers of Education from Africa invited to take part in the physical meeting at a Nairobi hotel, while the remainder and other delegates and stakeholders linked virtually.

The CCEM is an influential forum in the shaping of education policies not only in the Commonwealth but in the world as whole.

Following the conclusion of the 20th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (20CCEM) in Fiji, the importance of higher education in achieving sustainable development was formally recognised in the final ministerial declaration.

Stating that ‘education can deliver’, the Nadi declaration reinforces the importance of the Commonwealth Climate Resilience Network and the historic pledge signed by the Commonwealth Secretariat, Commonwealth of Learning (COL) and the ACU, which commits our organisations to work together and support member states to achieve the SDGs through education.

Ministers also expressed their support for the ACU’s proposed expansion of the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan (CSFP), which would boost academic mobility between member states and support the interchange of knowledge, research, and ideas.

By Fred Odanga Azelwa.