The Minister of Education and Representative of Sri Lanka on the Executive Board of UNESCO, Hon Bandula Gunawardhana called for an enhanced and active role for UNESCO in the sphere of education for peace and sustainable development, including in post conflict Sri Lanka.
Addressing the Plenary Debate of the 186th session of the Executive Board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) at its headquarters in Paris, the Education Minister noted that Sri Lanka having declared a national policy in the field of education for peace and sustainable development is now on the verge of launching a national action plan for implementation with the involvement of communities beyond the schools system.
Reiterating the importance of such a venture in times of national reconciliation, he said it was imperative for UNESCO, which has as its main objective the task of building peace in the minds of men and women, to stay closely engaged and support efforts of Member States.
Whilst welcoming and appreciating the efforts of UNESCO to monitor the goals of Education For All (EFA), he called for greater analysis of the process involved in delivering quality EFA standards.
The Minister of Education noted that as a country poised to achieve the cherished EFA goals by 2015, Sri Lanka was aiming to build a Regional Teacher Development Institute to cater to national needs and assist in meeting the needs of teacher shortages and quality improvement of the teaching cadre in other countries as well.
Speaking on the 3rd UNESCO Forum of Ministers in charge of Social Development from South Asia which was held in Colombo in February this year, Minister Gunawardhana pointed out that given that the largest concentration of people in poverty was in the South Asian region, it was opportune for UNESCO to help mobilize UN organisations and donor support towards expanding the scope of the social protection initiatives in the region.
On the sidelines of the Executive Board sessions Minister Gunawardhana met with and held discussions with National Representatives including the Representative of India, Dr. Karan Singh, who is also the co-chair of the international scholarly symposium being organized at UNESCO to mark the Sambuddhatwa Jayanthi on 20th May.
Embassy of Sri Lanka
Paris
Reiterating the importance of such a venture in times of national reconciliation, he said it was imperative for UNESCO, which has as its main objective the task of building peace in the minds of men and women, to stay closely engaged and support efforts of Member States.
Whilst welcoming and appreciating the efforts of UNESCO to monitor the goals of Education For All (EFA), he called for greater analysis of the process involved in delivering quality EFA standards.
The Minister of Education noted that as a country poised to achieve the cherished EFA goals by 2015, Sri Lanka was aiming to build a Regional Teacher Development Institute to cater to national needs and assist in meeting the needs of teacher shortages and quality improvement of the teaching cadre in other countries as well.
Speaking on the 3rd UNESCO Forum of Ministers in charge of Social Development from South Asia which was held in Colombo in February this year, Minister Gunawardhana pointed out that given that the largest concentration of people in poverty was in the South Asian region, it was opportune for UNESCO to help mobilize UN organisations and donor support towards expanding the scope of the social protection initiatives in the region.
On the sidelines of the Executive Board sessions Minister Gunawardhana met with and held discussions with National Representatives including the Representative of India, Dr. Karan Singh, who is also the co-chair of the international scholarly symposium being organized at UNESCO to mark the Sambuddhatwa Jayanthi on 20th May.
Embassy of Sri Lanka
Paris
09th May 2011
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