Canada's Ministers of Education Celebrate International Education Week

TORONTO, Nov. 12, 2012 /CNW/ - The Council of Ministers of Education, Canada (CMEC), joins this week with over 100 countries from around the world to celebrate International Education Week 2012 (IEW 2012).

IEW serves to increase awareness and understanding of international education among participating countries through a variety of activities and events undertaken by governments, educational institutions, stakeholder groups, and individuals. More information about events and activities can be found on the CMEC-sponsored IEW Web site, www.iew-sei.ca.

For IEW 2012, Canada has chosen the theme, "Canada Engages with the World: Realizing Our Potential through International Education." It underscores the value that Canadians place on connecting with the world through studying abroad, internationalized curricula, and international service, and on opening the world to Canada by welcoming international elementary, secondary, and postsecondary students, promoting international exchanges, and encouraging qualified foreign students to make Canada their home.

"We live in an increasingly interconnected and interdependent world," said the Honourable Ramona Jennex, Chair of CMEC and Nova Scotia's Minister of Education. "International education ensures Canada's active engagement with that world and with the many opportunities it offers by encouraging Canadian students to consider the benefits of studying abroad and by welcoming international students here at home."

CMEC is Canada's voice for education on the international stage and is working on a variety of education-related international initiatives and projects, including the following:

• In keeping with its commitment to provide Canadians with timely, comparable data on education, CMEC is participating, in partnership with the federal government, in OECD's flagship assessment of adult skills and learning, the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC). PIAAC will provide Canadians with one of the most complete portraits ever of adult skills in Canada, including literacy, and will inform policy development for years to come. The first results from PIAAC will be released in fall 2013.
  
  
• In August 2011, premiers approved an international education marketing action plan developed by CMEC and provincial and territorial immigration ministers to promote Canada as a destination of choice among international students. CMEC is currently working on the implementation of the plan.

About CMEC

Founded in 1967, CMEC is the collective voice of Canada's ministers of education. It provides leadership in education at the pan-Canadian and international levels and contributes to the exercise of the exclusive jurisdiction of provinces and territories over education. For more information, visit us at www.cmec.ca.

SOURCE: Council of Ministers of Education, Canada

Colin Bailey
Director, Communications
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Tel.: [phone], ext. 259
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