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Contact:
Claudia Monlouis
Monday, May 29, 2006 – UNESCO officials who attended the Summit of UNESCO
Associated Schools held over the weekend in observance of the Decade of
Education for Sustainable Development, put forward a challenge to students to
remain vocal and actively committed to issues surrounding sustainable education.
Schools from all over the island were represented at the forum organised by the
UNESCO Associated Schools Project Network -ASPNet. The summit held on Friday,
May 26th, marked Saint Lucia's launch of the observance of a special decade in
education declared by the United Nations in 2005.
Secretary General of the National Commission for UNESCO Mrs. Paule Turmel John
said ASPNET is dedicated to providing students with opportunities to understand
the world in which they live.
“ Students are again given another opportunity to demonstrate their ability at
grasping concepts and elaborating on issues of particular relevance to them and
their environs.” The ASPNET students presented concepts papers on current
issues, including ”Quality Education, Desserts and Desertification, HIV and AIDS
and the Caribbean Single Market and Economy CSME.”
The forum was formally declared open by Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of
Education Ms. Esther Brathwaite who is also vice chairperson of the National
Commission for UNESCO. She highlighted the positives of the summit which
included four panel discussions and question and answer sessions.
“It's an opportunity to express your views, your opinions, where you believe the
education system should go, given this decade of education for sustainable
development. There's a lot to be learnt, a lot to be achieved, a lot to think
about, a lot to express on your views on where the Ministry of education, the
education system should go in expressing, in articulating and in putting
policies together on where education should be in the area of sustainable
development., she told students.
The United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development spans 2005 to
2014 .The overall goal of the International Decade of Education for Sustainable
Development is to integrate the values inherent in sustainable development, into
all aspects of learning to bring about changes in behaviour that allow for a
sustainable and just society for all.
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