THE Bahamas will be the venue for the 19th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (CCEM) from June 22-26 at Atlantis Resort.

Jerome Fitzgerald, Minister of Education, Science and Technology, announced plans for the triennial meeting during the official local launch on Monday at the Ministry of Education.

Mr Fitzgerald described the conference as “historic” and an “important” event for the Bahamas.

Among those present were Nicole Campbell, permanent secretary; Lionel Sands, director of education; Patricia Collins, Marcellus Taylor and Serethea Clarke, deputy directors, stakeholders representing various Government ministries, corporations and departments.

More than 54 Ministers of Education representing Commonwealth countries are expected to attend. The focus of the five-day event will be quality, equity, access and paths in education for their citizens.

Other forums and meetings include the senior officials’ meeting, teachers’ forum, youth forum and stakeholders forum. Two new additions will be the Regional Ministerial Caucus (June 22), and the Small States Meeting (June 23).

This is the first time that the Bahamas will host the meeting and the third time it is being hosted by a country representing the Caribbean.

The conference is being organised jointly by the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Government of the Bahamas through the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology.

In addition to facilitating the exchange of best practices in education and related fields Mr Fitzgerald said the conference will also promote goodwill and foster mutual respect and co-operation between delegates and member states.

He explained that at the 18th CCEM in Mauritius in 2012, ministers acknowledged that the most important driver of exclusion from education is poverty and the biggest factors affecting an individual’s educational achievement and income potential are education levels and the income of their parents.

More than 1,000 foreign delegates are expected to attend the CCEM, for which the government plans to make available up to $2m.

Hotel room sales are expected to exceed 4,000 room nights resulting in significant economic benefits.

“At the end of the day, when this conference is successfully executed, the country and all of us within it will benefit,” said Mr Fitzgerald.