Education in the small states of the Commonwealth: Towards and beyond global goals and targets

Abstract

Among the 52 member states of the Commonwealth, 28 have populations below two million. Small states thus comprise over half of the total. Within the group, most are at the lower end of the population scale: 22 have populations below one million, and 13 have populations below 250,000. The Commonwealth gives special attention to small states, and the Commonwealth Secretariat has taken a leadership role in identifying their distinctive features. At the same time, contexts and modalities have changed significantly over the decades. Most obvious have been the opportunities and challenges of globalisation. The internet has significantly reduced the isolation of small states, and has given opportunities to access expertise that could not previously have been imagined. Technological advances have facilitated forms of collaboration, such as the Virtual University for the Small States of the Commonwealth. The cross-national interconnectedness in this era of globalisation also brings challenges. Many small states are well advanced on the Education for All objectives and the Millennium Development Goals, but others have some distance to go. There is value in collaboration within the Commonwealth, both among small states as a group and between small states and larger entities. The Commonwealth experience can inspire learning among small and larger states that are not members of the Commonwealth. The main issues covered in this paper include migration, planning higher education, and issues of co-ordination, integration and regulation. This ongoing study welcomes feedback and will build on the present analysis to identify further strategic priorities for educational planning and research in small states. © 2009 The Round Table Ltd.