OAU Decade of Education Central African states define priority areas for education in the sub-region From August 28 to September 1, nine countries from Central Africa met in Yaounde, Cameroon to discuss and propose ways of implementing OAU's Decade of Education Action program. The main objectives of the meeting were to select priority areas for the sub-region and strengthen cooperation in the field of education between countries of the sub-region . The Central African states have had to face numerous political, social and economic difficulties which have heavily impacted their education systems. The majority of countries represented at the seminar have suffered from civil or tribal warfare. All of them are confronted with the HIV/AIDS pandemic. This situation has not favored collaboration between countries. Eight priority areas were identified for the sub-region and lead countries assigned to them. The priority areas are the following (with lead countries and organizations in brackets): Creation of an observatory to monitor education in Central Africa (Congo and the NESIS Program of the ADEA Working Group on Education Statistics) Technical and vocational education (Gabon) Production, at a regional level, of teaching materials and the creation of online libraries (Cameroon and African Publishers' Network or APNET) Elaboration of a regional plan to combat HIV/AIDS (The Democratic Republic of Congo) Standardization of curricula and diplomas (the Central African Republic and the African and Malagasy Council for Higher Education or CAMES) The education of girls and women (Chad and FAWE) Training and enhancement of trainers (São Tomé and Principe with the UNESCO International Institute for Capacity Building in Africa or IICBA) Education for peace, tolerance and regional integration (Congo) Gabon, in collaboration with São Tomé and Principe and Congo, will be responsible for coordinating Decade of Education activities in Central Africa. Previous Article: Fighting the Damages of AIDS to Education | Contents Page | Next Article: Communications Framework for HIV/AIDS -- A New Direction

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