SAARC Delhi Declaration pushes for better education

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In the media The Hindu, Delhi, India - 1st November 2014

NEW DELHI: Education Ministers and officials of eight South Asian countries have resolved to collaborate on increased use of information technology and improving the quality of education.

At the second meeting of Education Ministers of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) here on Friday, representatives of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka issued a joint statement titled “The New Delhi Declaration on Education.” Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani chaired the meeting.

The priority areas of action decided upon include enhancing the learning and development readiness of pre-school children, ensuring education for all, expanding skill development, facilitating mutual recognition of qualifications and mobility of students and teachers and expanding alternative ways of learning such as open and distance education.

The Ministers discussed India’s use of information and communication technology in education, development and sharing of e-resources, connectivity, e-learning and Massive Open Online Courses.

Agencies reported that Mukhtar Ahmed, Chairman of Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission, proposed a SAARC education and research network for sharing information.