NEWS RELEASE

Ref: 860-380/24

74th Meeting of the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada
Halifax, Nova Scotia - September 29-30, 1998

Halifax, September 30, 1998

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MINISTERS TO DISCUSS DIRECTIONS FOR EDUCATION COOPERATION IN THE
TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

The ministers of education announced today that they will work together to develop a joint declaration on their priorities for education in the new millennium. The announcement was made at the close of a meeting of the Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC), held in Halifax.

"We must constantly be looking to the shape of education in the future," said the Honourable Roger Grimes, Vice-Chair of CMEC, who chaired the ministers' meeting. "As education and training become more complex, we must find more ways of delivering effective programs and of working together on common challenges."

The ministers will begin work immediately on a joint declaration outlining their views on the broad directions that education should take in the coming decades. It will also describe values and beliefs that ministers hold in common, and will indicate ways they see provinces and territories working together to add value to the work they are doing individually. "We are aiming to release the declaration at a meeting of CMEC in September 1999 in Victoria," said Mr. Grimes.

"Education is increasingly recognized world-wide as the key to personal fulfilment, economic prosperity, and peace," stated Mr. Grimes. Mr. Grimes is Minister of Education for Newfoundland and Labrador.

CMEC is an intergovernmental body made up of the ministers responsible for elementary- secondary and advanced education from the provinces and the territories. Through CMEC, ministers share information and undertake projects in areas of mutual interest and concern.

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Information:

Lara Inglis, CMEC
416-964-2551, ext. 256
E-mail: lara@cmec.ca

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