LONDON, England — The Hon. Jeffrey Lloyd, Minister of Education, and Dr. Marcellus Taylor, Director of Education, are scheduled to return to The Bahamas over the weekend after participating in several education-related events in London, including a meeting at the Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU).
Accompanied by His Excellency Ellison Greenslade, Bahamas High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland, the Bahamian educational officials met with Dr Joanna Newman, MBE, Chief Executive and Secretary General of the ACU, and other officials of the ACU on Friday, January 25, 2019.
Commenting on the meeting on its Facebook page, the ACU noted: “This morning our Secretary General Dr. Joanna Newman met with a delegation from The Bahamas, including Jeffrey Lloyd and HC Greenslade to discuss scholarships, membership, climate change and how we can work together more closely in future.”
“The Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) supports the development of higher education as a power for good across the Commonwealth and beyond,” according to the ACU’s website. “As the world’s first international university network, we remain one of the most diverse, with 500 members across more than 50 countries.”
Established in 1913, the ACU “is dedicated to building a better world through higher education, by championing the role of universities in addressing global challenges and improving people’s lives.”
“One of our key principles is the value of higher education to society – its role ‘as a common good’ – and the conviction that this value is enhanced by international collaboration,” the website adds. “Through a unique network of 500 universities in over 50 countries, the ACU expands educational opportunities, enables vital research, and supports the long-term vitality of higher education. We manage international scholarship schemes (including the UK government’s three major scholarship programmes and The Queen Elizabeth Commonwealth Scholarships), convene universities to address key policy challenges such as gender and equity, climate resilience, and peace and reconciliation, and promote the role of universities in delivering the UN Sustainable Development Goals.”
Minister Lloyd and Dr. Taylor also met with officials of the Commonwealth Education Ministers Action Group (EMAG) on Thursday, January 24.
According to its website, EMAG “was formed at the 19th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (19CCEM) in The Bahamas, June 2015, with the purpose of guiding delivery of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for education in the Commonwealth and providing strategic direction and advice in following up on points agreed at the 19CCEM and presented as the Nassau Declaration.”
“In this regard, the first EMAG meeting took place at Commonwealth Secretariat’s headquarters at Marlborough House, London, on 21-22 January 2016,” the website notes. “One of the key outcomes of the meeting was translating the Nassau Declaration into actionable items as outlined in the Nassau Declaration Action Plan. The second meeting took place at Marlborough House on 19-20 January 2017.”
Commonwealth Secretary-General Patricia Scotland, QC, who participated in that meeting, posted on her Facebook page: “I’m pleased to join Education Ministers and delegates from across the Commonwealth at today’s EMAG meeting, chaired by Fiji’s Minister of Education, to discuss education priorities among member countries.”
