Commonwealth Day celebrations on Monday 14 March 2005 carried the theme "Education - creating opportunity, realising potential".
Today, around 75 million children in Commonwealth countries lack access to basic education. As education is essential for equipping individuals with life skills and enabling them to achieve their full potential, the absence of basic education destroys the children's life chances.
But education is not just a matter of personal tragedy, it is also a key impediment to development for societies and economies. A knowledge-based society will better facilitate expansion of human capabilities and empowerment, safeguarding the vulnerable and raising awareness of democratic values, social justice and critical enquiry. And as the newly-industrialised nations demonstrate, education enhances the potential for economic development and diversification.
The most recent Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (in Edinburgh, Scotland; October 2003) endorsed six Action Areas for enhancing education. These are achieving universal primary education; eliminating gender disparities; improving quality in education; using distance learning to overcome barriers; supporting education in difficult circumstances; and mitigating the impact of HIV/AIDS in education.
The need for education for all is enshrined in one of the United Nations Millennium Development Goals, which aims to reach universal primary school enrolment by 2015. As a leading Commonwealth educationalist has put it:
"If we continue to leave vast sections of the people of the world outside the orbit of education, we make the world not only less just, but also less secure." --Professor Amartya Sen
In her annual Commonwealth Day Message, the Queen spoke about this year's theme of "Education: creating opportunity, realising potential".
In noting the need for education and the global challenges the world is facing in meeting the UN Millennium Development Goal of achieving universal primary education by 2015, she mentions the Vancouver-based Commonwealth of Learning, which "encourages Commonwealth countries to pool their expertise" in the expansion of distance education programmes and technologies that help to increase access to education.
"Overcoming these global challenges, whether as individuals or nations, depends on human ingenuity and commitment. It involves young people in particular having the chance to develop their talents and their abilities -- without being held back by inequality," she said. "Education is a precious gift which should be available to everyone, young and old. Not only does it equip us with the skills and the intellect to overcome the problems we face; it also increases our understanding of -- and respect for -- other people, whatever our differences may be. Perhaps Nelson Mandela put it best when he said, 'education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world'."
The Commonwealth Secretary-General's Statement for Commonwealth Day is available on the web site of the Commonwealth Secretariat.
COL co-sponsored two Commonwealth Day events in the Vancouver area on Sunday, 13 March and Monday, 14 March 2005.
Further information
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Commonwealth Day and Commonwealth Day activity are also celebrated through the special web site (www.commonwealthday.com) offered by the Joint Commonwealth Societies' Council (JCSC) and the Royal Commonwealth Society.
