Meeting of the SADC Ministers of Education in Maputo back a page | next page One of the strategies used by the DAE to strengthen capacities in Africa is to foster the sharing of experiences and collaboration between African countries. In September 1995, in Harare, the DAE had facilitated a meeting between Ministers of Education from Southern African countries entitled ÇFrom Transition to CooperationÈ . This meeting was closely followed by another meeting which coincided with the DAE Biennial Meeting in Tours in October 1995. May 30 of this year, the Ministers of Education of SADC* member countries met again at Maputo, Mozambique, to pursue regional cooperation efforts in the field of education. Ministers from the following countries attended: Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania and Zimbabwe. One of the objectives of the meeting was to acquaint the ministers from the various countries with the structure, organization, modus operandi, and education programs of the SADC. The Ministers of Education joined their colleagues from other ministries at the annual meeting of the Committee of Ministers for Human Resources Development in the region held the following day. Discussion on education and training touched upon the following activities: - A draft protocol on education and training for SADC countries which will outline the specific areas of cooperation between countries of the region; - A catalogue of secondary and higher education training and learning institutions; - the harmonization and rationalization of education and training systems in the region in order to: (i) create an information system on the job market; (ii) assess the possibility of comparing the education systems of the region; (iii) develop regional capacities for policy formulation and the planning and management of education; (iv) assess the availability of, and access to, textbooks and teaching methods used by SADC countries, especially in the areas of distance education, the teaching of science and mathematics, the teaching of English in Angola and Mozambique, and the teaching of Portuguese in the other countries of the region. Various regional technical commissions are responsible for studying these issues in liaison with the SADC Secretariat for Human Resources Development located in Swaziland. The Ministers of Education of the region will meet in 1997 in Windhoek, Namibia. Arnaldo Nhavoto Minister of Education Mozambique *The following 12 countries are members of the SADC (Southern African Development Community): Angola, Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland,Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

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