Caricom ministers to discuss brain drain today
BRIDGETOWN, Barbados — Caribbean Community (Caricom) ministers with responsibility for human and social development will today begin a two-day meeting to address the continued recruitment, by developed countries, of the region’s skilled professionals, including teachers and nurses.
Jamaica lost more than 500 teachers to Britain last year, as attractive pay packages lured them away from the island even as their association attempted to negotiate an increase in wages. Others have been lured to the United States.
The ministerial meeting, which will be held in Port of Spain, will have a particular focus on education, according to the Caricom secretariat, and the “migration of teachers from the Caribbean” will be a major area for consideration.
Concerned over the brain drain from the region, ministers of education from the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and Barbados participated in a meeting last July, organised by the London-based Commonwealth secretariat.
That meeting resulted in the signing of what has come to be known as the “Savannah Accord”, which called for research at the national level to determine the extent of the “teacher loss and the impact on the education system”.
The COSHOD meeting, scheduled for the Trinidad Hilton’s conference centre, will seek to advance consideration on the issue when it addresses the question of free movement of skills within the 15-member Community, in the context of implementation of arrangements for the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME).
To be chaired by Suriname’s education minister, Walter Sandriman, the meeting will review the regional strategy for human and social development in accordance with recommendations that flowed from the 1997 Caricom Summit in Montego Bay.
Other matters on the COSHOD agenda include curriculum development embracing Spanish at the primary school level, technology and tourism education in schools, as well as education on HIV/AIDS.
Meanwhile, a two-day meeting of Caricom’s College of Negotiators will be convened in Kingston, today, to finalise preparation for the 13th Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) Trade Negotiation Committee in Puebla, Mexico from April 8-11.
Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM) director, Ambassador Richard Bernal, will provide an overview of the status of FTAA negotiations.
The College of Negotiators comprise lead and alternate negotiators representing Caricom in the FTAA’s nine negotiating groups and one ad hoc group on market access.