Small States Meeting (22 June, 2015)

The meeting of Ministers from Small States will provide an opportunity for ministers of the 31 Small States to engage and discuss critical and problematic issues affecting their countries. Small States are affected by unique challenges and issues related to size, disperse populations, volatility of economics and weather, and single source economy (product or service). Many of the 32 Commonwealth Small States are Island States, widely dispersed or multi-island states and are affected by environmental and economic constraints. The question is 'Can they overcome their size-related vulnerabilities and grow faster and more consistently?' Ministers will have the opportunity to discuss responses to these structural challenges and consider effective policy options which are suitable to the realities of Small States.
 

The format of this meeting will allow for a Ministerial discussion group, including one presentation/case study which will focus on some of the vulnerabilities and options for addressing the problems.The output of  the meeting will be a report to be presented to the ministerial meeting.
 

Regional Ministerial Caucus (23 June, 2015)

Regional Ministerial Caucuses is an innovation to the CCEM.
 

At the 19CCEM, ministers will be provided an opportunity to engage their colleagues and consider critical and problematic issues affecting member countries (such as the impact of migration and the cost of tertiary education) from a regional perspective in closed pre-conference caucuses. Additionally, ministers will have the opportunity to discuss the challenges they face, given the tensions that exist between policies and politics and efforts that they have made or can make to strike a more appropriate balance between these two key aspects of their work.  The day-long meeting will group ministers according to the various regions within the Commonwealth.
 

Senior Officials' Meeting (23 June, 2015)

The participants of this meeting comprise senior officials from the ministries of education in Commonwealth countries.
 

The principal purpose of the meeting is to review the documents, reports and work plans that will be presented to ministers during the ministerial meeting, in particular the Commonwealth Secretariat (ComSec) Education Section's and Commonwealth of Learning's (COL) progress reports and work plans, review and receive report on the Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan, and to approve the programme for the ministerial meeting. The officials will consider the following:

• 19CCEM focus, structure, procedures and anticipated outcomes;
• Referrals from other Commonwealth meetings and written submissions;
• Commonwealth Secretariat Education Section's progress report;
• Commonwealth of Learning's progress report;
• Mandates from 18CCEM: Ministerial Working Group on Post-2015 Development Framework, Commonwealth Tertiary Education Facility;
• Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan;
• Commonwealth Education Good Practice Awards;
• 19CCEM Issues Paper;
• MDGs and EFA Progress Report: Achieving the Goals 2015: The Performance of Commonwealth Countries in Achieving the Millennium Development Goals in Education and the Education for All Goals;
• Guidebook to Education in the Commonwealth - Highlights of good practices across the Commonwealth.

The output of the meeting will be a report to be presented at the Ministerial meeting.
 

Ministerial Meeting (24-26 June, 2015)

The meeting involves ministers of education and invited approved observers of Commonwealth countries and territories.
 

The purpose of the meeting is for ministers to discuss each of the conference technical issues in turn and deal with procedural matters related to the work of Commonwealth intergovernmental agencies in education. Ministers will also receive statements from representatives of each of the Parallel Forums.
 

Discussions will cover a range of educational issues focusing on quality, skills and paths that meet both the dynamic needs of learners especially the youth and global qualification standards, ICT integration in education and training, opportunities for economic growth and investment education for sustainable development, and the overall quality of education across the Commonwealth.