The New Year started well for resident of St. Kitts-Nevis education expert, Dr. Neva Pemberton, as she arrived in Paris to undertake a 6-month intensive training programme organised by UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP).
Over the coming months in Paris, Dr. Pemberton will be exposed to in-depth training on educational planning and management, exploring fields such as statistical tools and indicators, strategies and policy options, projects, budgets, and performance assessment frameworks.
IIEP programs are designed for planners, policy-makers and researchers. IIEP targets both educational institutions and individuals, and works in both national and international contexts. In recent years, IIEP has notably spearheaded research projects to identify new approaches that planners can utilize to improve equity, access and quality in the various educational sectors.
While attending the UNESCO training programme, Dr. Pemberton is on secondment from the Nevis Island Administration Ministry of Education, where she works as Education Planner. Significantly, Dr. Pemberton is also the national coordinator for the UNESCO- led Education Sector Policy Review process currently underway in the Federation.
Referring to her experience in IIEP training programme, Dr Pemberton stated: “My participation in the IIEP’s Education Sector Planning course could not be more timely. Access to such high-quality training in pertinent areas like planning, management and policy development at a time when the Ministry of Education in St. Kitts and Nevis is undertaking great effort to develop a meaningful and relevant sector strategy is important. If we are to make significant gains in education post 2015, we, like many other small island developing states (SIDS), must have a clear vision of our priorities and how we can best achieve these within the context of resource constraints. The IIEP Dr . Pemberton course has challenged me to think critically about the strengths and challenges in education planning in a small island state context. As a result of the course she will be better able to manage effective strategic planning efforts within the Ministry and contribute to national sustainable development.”
The IIEP collaborates with a wide range of ministries amongst the UNESCO Member States to help develop their plans. Dr. David Doyle, Ambassador of St. Kitts and Nevis to UNESCO who is based in Paris, remarked “we certainly welcome the critical opportunity provided by UNESCO. In offering granular training in education planning and management, which will enable us to strengthen the capacity and expertise of the ministry of education via high-calibre staff, like Dr. Pemberton.
Ambassador Doyle was also complimentary about Dr Pemberton’s coordination role in UNESCO’s current 7-month Education Policy Review that is being conducted in St. Kitts and Nevis to contribute to the development of the medium term Sector Strategic Plan. This followed a high-level agreement signed between St. Kitts-Nevis (Minister Nigel Carty) and the eminent UNESCO education department in 2014.
“This UNESCO Education Policy Review and Sector Strategic Plan exercise focused on St. Kitts-Nevis is the first independent study of its kind to be undertaken by education experts from this Paris-based specialized UN agency. Dr Pemberton has worked hard to provide the UNESCO experts access to the appropriate stakeholders on the island, which has greatly facilitated UNESCO’s role in evolving towards a conclusion by the end of this year”, Ambassador Doyle said.
Dr. Pemberton is also a member of the St. Kitts and Nevis National Commission for UNESCO, representing the Nevis Department of Education in contributing to, developing, and rolling-out UNESCO-related activities and events in the Federation. She earned her doctorate in International and Comparative Education from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2010 and has since been working as Education Planner in Nevis.