World’s largest education confab opens in Africa today

Global leaders of tertiary education will today converge on Cape Town International Convention Centre, Cape Town, South Africa, to discuss issues facing the international education community.

The three-day conference, tagged: “Going Global,” is the world’s largest education conference, organised by the British Council. This is the first time the conference is being held in Africa.

Communications Manager, British Council Nigeria, Mr. Desmond Omovie, said the conference, aimed at addressing core educational issues, would be discussed across 40 sessions featuring 150 speakers.

Themed, “Building Nations and Connecting Cultures: Education Policy, Economic Development and Engagement,” he added that since its inception in 2004, Going Global has grown from a bi-annual event in the United Kingdom (UK) to an annual event alternating between the UK and a major international city.

He said, “More than 800 education leaders, government ministers and chief executives from around 75 countries including Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Colombia, China and Ukraine, will be attending the three-day conference.

“The highlights of the conference include the recording of a special edition on ‘Brain Drain. How Do we Stem It?’ by the BBC World Service while the Times Higher Education magazine will be exclusively launching its annual World Reputation Rankings,” Omovie explained.

He said the British Council would launch a new major piece of research, “The Shape of Global Higher Education,” that reveals which countries have the best policy environment to encourage international engagement; crucial for their future success (or failure) in the global knowledge economy.

The Guardian learnt that the Federal Government’s team to this year’s conference will be comparing notes with participants from other parts of the globe as part of efforts to seek solutions to the various challenges confronting education the sector in the country.

To lead the delegation is the Minister of State for Education, Prof. Anthony Anwuka, who will be joined by the Secretary, Committee of Vice- Chancellors in Nigeria, Prof. Michael Faborode, as well as the President of Association of African Vice-Chancellors and the VC of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Prof. Olusola Oyewole, among other participants.