Background

The trustees believe that co-operation with a leading university recognised throughout the Commonwealth and with a pre-eminent record in the field of education and teacher training will enhance its ability to achieve its objectives.

The trustees have entered into a joint venture agreement with Cambridge University to establish a Centre for Commonwealth Education to provide a unique means of delivering benefits in the field of youth education to each of the 54 nations of the Commonwealth. The Institute’s proposals for the establishment of the Centre for Commonwealth Education were presented to Commonwealth Ministers of Education at their triennial conference in Edinburgh in October 2003. Ministers received a report and a presentation and endorsed the establishment of the Centre. They reported on that endorsement in the Meeting Communiqué and also in the message from Ministers to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Abuja, Nigeria in December 2003.

The relevant passage from the message from Ministers to the Commonwealth Heads of Government read as follows:

“We noted with satisfaction the proposal of the Commonwealth Institute to establish a Centre for Commonwealth Education in partnership with the University of Cambridge as an additional Commonwealth resource in education. The Centre will support primary and secondary education and teacher training in the Commonwealth. We urge you to endorse the establishment of this Centre”

The message to the CHOGM was then incorporated in a Report from the Committee of the Whole (the Committee of Officials that prepares the comprehensive Report to Heads of Government prior to the CHOGM) in the following terms:

“The Committee recalled that Heads of Government were requested by the Commonwealth Ministers of Education at their Conference in Edinburgh , October 2003 to reaffirm their commitment to and support for upholding the right of their citizens to education as a foundation for human development and the achievement of the MDGs. The Committee therefore requested heads of government t consider the message from this conference and invited them to endorse the Edinburgh Action Plan which outlines the ways of closing the gap in access, inclusion and achievement in education in the Commonwealth.

The Committee also invited heads of Government to welcome the decision of the Commonwealth Institute to establish a Centre for Commonwealth Education in partnership with Cambridge University as a new resource supporting the development of primary and secondary education across the commonwealth. The Committee urged heads of Government to endorse the establishment of this Centre”

This passage was in turn endorsed in the formal session of the CHOGM and recorded through the following passage in the Communiqué:

“Heads of Government considered the various aspects of Commonwealth functional co-operation and endorsed the Report of the Committee of the Whole. They also acknowledged the valuable work of other Commonwealth Organisations, which report to them through the COW.”

More importantly for the Centre, however, Heads of Government also issued a Declaration as a result of their further deliberations during the ‘Retreat’ section of the CHOGM when they go into private session without delegation officials. Quite exceptionally (because it is very unusual to mention individual organisations in such a document) the Declaration, known as the Aso Rock Declaration (Aso Rock being the location where the Retreat took place) contains the following passage:

“We affirm that education, whether formal or informal, is central to development in any society and is of the highest priority to the Commonwealth. In an increasingly divided and insecure world, education must play a crucial role for people, both young and old, for them to optimise their opportunities and to bridge divides.

We commend all efforts by Commonwealth organisations and agencies to develop greater education resources and to create an enabling environment to foster an enterprise culture. We encourage all governments, noting the value of distance education and the benefits of technology, to draw upon best practices throughout the Commonwealth and welcome the increased support for education in the Commonwealth through the new Centre for Commonwealth Education at Cambridge University.”