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Hon. Shawn K Richards, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Youth, Sports and Culture, St. Kitts and Nevis is leading regional discussions on the future of Social and Human Development in the Caribbean as the new Chairman of COHSOD meeting now being held in Guyana.

The need for a “whole systems’ approach to education transformation in the Region is a major area of focus for Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Ministers of Education at the 2-day meeting of the CARICOM Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) which opened in Guyana, Thursday.

Chairman of the meeting,  St.Kitts-Nevis Deputy Prime Minister Hon.  Shawn  K. Richards, in addressing the Opening Ceremony, stressed the  inadequacy of incremental changes to the system to meet the needs of the “radically changed” students of this digital age.

“The imperative therefore   is for systemic reform, in areas such as teacher preparation and continued professional development, in leadership training and several other technical areas. An important element of such reform is that of the architecture and governance of education systems and not merely the content of education. Failure to address these latter issues would be akin to ‘pouring new wine into old wine skins’ to use the biblical reference,” the Minister warned.

This COHSOD Meeting, under the theme” Safeguarding our Region’s Future: Reshaping Education for the 21st Century” will present recommendations to the CARICOM  Commission on Human Resource Development to help shape a Regional Education and Human Resource Development 2030 Strategy.