While the Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers is a Commonwealth Secretariat event, the host country plays an important role in facilitating many aspects of this meeting and its parallel forums.  The Government of The Bahamas has handed the responsibility for coordinating the planning and execution of the 19CCEM to the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.  The Ministry subsequently, has established the 19CCEM Local Core Coordinating Committee (LCCC) and the Local Organising Committee (LOC) to plan and execute a successful conference. 

The LCCC is the liaison between the Commonwealth Secretariat in London and the Government of The Bahamas.  Additionally, it will oversee all of the functions of the LOC.  Members of the LCCC include Mr. Marcellus Taylor, Deputy Head of Task Force 19CCEM; Mrs. Janice Knowles, Coordinator, LCCC; Mrs. Althea Hamilton-Grant, Coordinator, LCCC; Ms. Maria Seymour, Coordinator, LCCC and Ms. Valerie Gaitor, Coordinator, LCCC and Supervisor, 19CCEM Secretariat. 

Following are the duties and responsibilities of the LCCC:

• Plan and facilitate the meetings of the Local Organising Committee; 
• Develop the plan of work for the LCCC;
• Develop, implement and monitor a work plan for all responsibilities covered by the host country; 
• Prepare and manage the budget for the conference, which will include ensuring that resources are appropriated and efficiently utilised;  
• Manage the Local 19CCEM Secretariat; 
• Review and approve the Planning and Reporting Tool submitted by each Sub-Committee of the Local Organising Committee; 
• Conduct bi-lateral meetings with Sub-Committees to, among other things, discuss proposed plans and implementation strategies;
• Coordinate and monitor the work of all Sub-Committees, Contractors and other suppliers of goods and services for the Conference; 
• Provide information, advice and guidance to the Government of The Bahamas, the Commonwealth Secretariat, Sub-Committees and other partners and stakeholders  associated with the hosting of this Conference; 
• Carry out all other duties, not otherwise assigned to any Sub-Committee, related to the organisation and execution of the Conference. 

The LOC is composed of members of the Local Core Coordinating Committee (LCCC) and senior officers representing a wide cross-section of entities.  While most of the members represent public sector agencies, a few of the professionals on the LOC hail from non-governmental agencies such as the Bahamas Union of Teachers, the Bahamas Educators Managerial Union, Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD) and Atlantis Resort; each of which has a critical role to play in the staging of the Conference. 

This group of experts will be required to make this national undertaking one which every citizen of The Bahamas will be proud and also provide the best environment for this high level meeting to occur. It is also an opportunity to provide for capacity building and healthy inter-agency exchange.

To ensure that the expertise of this diverse group is maximised, several sub-committees have been formed to advance the work of the Conference. Each committee was provided with a Terms of Reference (TOR) to guide their performance prior to, and during the 19CCEM.