| VANCOUVER - Staff members of the Caribbean Examinations Council will be arriving in Vancouver next week for training in the development of self-study resource materials. This is the first stage of a larger training programme to assist the development of a Caribbean-wide secondary-level course delivery system aimed at increasing enrolments at the post-secondary level by 15 per cent by 2005 through the provision of flexible and self-study options geared towards existing standard exams. Caribbean Heads of Government have set this target to enable more Caribbean students to gain university entrance and encourage lifelong learning. Currently, far too many students are unable to study beyond the basic level because secondary schools do not have the capacity to enrol all of the qualified students. "This represents a great loss of potential to the Caribbean," says Helen Lentell, Education Specialist, Training and Materials Development, at the Vancouver-based Commonwealth of Learning (COL), that is hosting the delegation and delivering the training later this month. "Distance education can help to overcome these obstacles, which also exist throughout the rest of the developing world." The Caribbean educators will also visit Simon Fraser University and the Open Learning Agency for orientation sessions on their distance education programmes. "Canada and particularly British Columbia are recognised internationally for their expertise in the development and delivery of distance education programming," said Lucy Steward, Registrar of the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC), from her office in Bridgetown, Barbados. "By coming to Vancouver, we will be able to tap into both COL's international resources and Canadian know-how." COL is an intergovernmental organisation created by Commonwealth Heads of Government to encourage the development and sharing of open learning and distance education knowledge, resources and technologies. The Government of Canada and Province of British Columbia are major financial supporters. CXC was established in 1972 by 16 participating Caribbean countries and territories. It provides services to educational institutions throughout the region in the development of syllabuses, examinations and related administration. The delegation will be in Vancouver from November 26 - 30, 2001. |