The Secretary-General of the Organisation of Educational Cooperation (OEC), H. E. Mr. Manssour Bin Mussallam, held a fruitful exchange with the Minister of Basic and Secondary Education of the Republic of The Gambia, Hon. Mrs. Claudiana A. Cole, in which they addressed issues of common interest such as education, innovation and development.
In his introductory remarks, H. E. Bin Mussallam thanked the Government of The Gambia for the invitation to make this official visit to the African nation, while A. Cole praised the OEC’s rapid availability to accept meetings at the highest level and participate in parallel in the 3rd African Continental Conference on Curriculum “Technology of Education and Curriculum Alignment in the New Era” that will be held in the city of Banjul from May 23 to 26, 2022.
For her part, the Minister mentioned that the event will bring together approximately 300 people representing more than 45 countries from different continents.
Moreover, the Secretary-General referred to the origins of the establishment of the OEC in 2020 by 27 countries from all across the Global South, and affirmed that today the Organisation is more committed than ever to defending the values and principles of balanced and inclusive education.
Likewise, he stressed that the promotion of endogenous educational policies and systems remains at the centre of his strategic approach to building the education we need.
Both agreed on the need for educational systems to ensure that educators are facilitators of knowledge and innovation and that, at the same time, students become protagonists and co-creators of their future and of society as a whole.
Mentioning that the Organisation remains committed to provide financial, technical, and institutional support to its member states, the Secretary-General invited the Republic of The Gambia to become a signatory to the Universal Declaration on Balanced and Inclusive Education (UDBIE).
The Minister replied that for this purpose to become a reality they have established a technical team, made up of specialists from the Ministries of Finance, Justice and Higher Education, in order to enable The Gambia the realization of a fruitful association and to become a signatory as soon as possible to the UDBIE.
