Jamaican Senior Official Asks UNESCO to Help Reform Local Education System

Delano Franklyn, Jamaica´s minister of state for foreign affairs and trade, yesterday urged the United Nations´ Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) to use its clout to assist Jamaica´s education system.

The local education system, Franklyn said at yesterday´s opening of UNESCO´s regional consultative meeting at the Ritz Carlton hotel in Rosehall, was dogged by old-style hierarchical management, outdated methodologies and uncreative thinking.

The deputy foreign minister spoke against the background of several concerns regarding the ‘enormous challenges´ facing the current reform of the sector, despite a general trend of increased expenditure on education among governments of the region.

“There is no question that UNESCO has made significant contributions to the development of education in Latin American and Caribbean countries... but there is much more to be done in the area of developing education,” Franklyn said.

The 60 year-old UNESCO is an international body with a mandate to improve and assist countries worldwide through programs in the areas of science, culture, education and communication.

This week´s meeting will see the secretaries-general from the region´s various national commissions and other officials discussing and preparing the organization´s draft of medium and long-term strategies for 2008-2009 and 2008-2013.