CARICOM and Canada Assist Suriname to Incorporate Regional Integration and the CSME into School Curricula

Georgetown, March 6- Approximately four hundred teachers in Suriname will be trained on the operations of the Caribbean Community and CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).

The sessions began on Monday 3 March, 2014 at the Wyndham Garden Hotel in Paramaribo and will run until 24 March, 2014. The activity in Suriname falls under the CARICOM Trade and Competitiveness Project (CTCP) and its Information Flows component. The CTCP is executed by the CARICOM Secretariat with the assistance of Canada.

The teachers are selected from all Junior High Schools throughout Suriname and they will be exposed to presentations focusing on integrating CARICOM and the CSME into the subjects of Geography, History and other social sciences. The presentations will be made by the Suriname Ministries responsible for Trade and Education and are based on booklets and documents developed by the CARICOM Secretariat. The Department for Curricula Development in the Ministry of Education will play a pivotal role in ensuring the facilitation of the training.

The activity is part of the CARICOM Secretariat’s efforts to create and enhance information channels to enable increased participation of CARICOM stakeholders in decision making on regional integration. Suriname decided that teacher training and curricula development were priority areas for the Dutch speaking South American CARICOM Member State.

Other CARICOM Member States participating in the CSME are also benefiting from the CTCP. However Suriname is the first to implement an activity relating to improving its information flows for the CSME. Other Member States have also requested teacher training and the development of other information channels under the CTCP.