The Hon. Jerome Fitzgerald, Minister of Education, Science and Technology for The Bahamas, opened the 19CCEM Civil Society Forum by reiterating the importance that the Government of The Bahamas was placing on civil society having a meaningful input into the Minsterial Meetings.
In an interview with the Commonwealth Foundation, the Minister stated, “Once you start from [the] perspective that education is everybody’s business, then you want to include as many stakeholders as possible.”
When asked how civil society could contribute to education policy discussions with meaningful engagement, he observed that, “Civil society of course plays a very critical role in education and policies in education moving forward. And that is one of the key reasons why we were very supportive of including civil society in this conference, and ensuring civil society not only has a space at the conference, but also has direct engagement, particularly with the Small Island Developing Countries.”
The Minister concluded by acknowledging that, “[the Government of The Bahamas] understands and appreciates the importance of civil society as a major stakeholder in the development of our countries.”
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwxM4XIvYvY?rel=0]
