Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, has called for greater understanding and cooperation among the Commonwealth of Nations.
The minister, who made the call yesterday during the occasion of the Commonwealth Day celebration in Abuja, noted that the countries making up the Commonwealth were “bound together by a sense of shared history and by the principles, values and ideals enshrined in their charter,” and must show great resilience and strong unity.
The theme of this year’s commonwealth day, “Towards a common Future”, was aimed at a future towards which the Commonwealth will strive towards addressing global challenges and working to create a better future for the world.
The minister highlighted that the Commonwealth is “a family of 53 independent countries with population of more than 2.4 billion people, nearly one third of the world’s population, which spans Asia, Americas, Africa, Europe and the Pacific Region.
” He added that, coexisting peacefully among the ranks of members states are the biggest and smallest economies, the richest and poorest countries, the weakest and strongest economies, out of which 19 are in Africa, seven in Asia, 13 in the Caribbean and the Americas while the Pacific Region takes 11.
He said at home, Nigeria was working in partnership with Commonwealth of Learning to mainstream child-friendly school models and more effective approaches into teacher education curriculum.
“This is based on our belief that the provision of quality education goes beyond teaching methods and learning outcomes but that it must also include issues of health, safety and adequacy of school facilities,” he said.
On his part, the Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Barr Solomon Dalung, appealed to the education minister to revive the cherished memories of youth sports competition in primary and secondary schools which had been nurseries for great sportsmen and women who had done Nigeria proud in international competitions.
