Danny Faure Minister for Education and Youth Born in 1962, Mr. Faure studied Political Sciences in Cuba. He became teacher at Seychelles Polytechnic & National Youth Service. He has a wealth of experience in education and politics. He was Chairman of the Seychelles People's Progressive Front (SPPF) Youth Organisation - National Executive Committee -, Member of the SPPF Central Committee, Principal Co-ordinator of the SPPF Secretariat, and Principal Executive Co-ordinator of the SPPF Secretariat. From 1993 to 1998 he was appointed as Leader of Government Business in the National Assembly. Mr. Faure was Assistant Curriculum Officer at the Ministry of Education, Member of the National Vocational Training Board, and Director of Seychelles National Youth Service (NYS). In 1998, Mr. Faure took up the post of Minister for Education.

Education continues to be a critical factor in national, regional and international efforts to sustain and enhance personal and national growth and development. It is also recognized as a potentially powerful means for achieving gender equality and mitigating against a range of ills that threaten humankind including HIV/AIDS and environmental degradation.

Despite these hopes and expectations the real picture remains one where many national governments are still grappling with issues of quality, relevance, the financing and resourcing of education and the provision of adequate opportunities for lifelong learning for all.

There is however a growing realization that the complex and dynamic relationships that exists between the many dimensions of the education process need to be better understood and more adequately addressed if the hopes and expectations vested in education are not to continue to elude us.

I join my colleague Ministers of Education and the international partners in recognizing the commitment of UNESCO to the development of education internationally and for providing the forum development of education internationally and for providing the forum through the 47th International Conference on Education for the sharing of experiences, approaches and strategies on the potential effective ways and means to continue to promote meaningful qualitative education development for all our youths and development in our respective countries in an increasingly globalized and changing environment.

On behalf of the youth of Seychelles, I convey my sincere wishes for the success of this conference in the on-going search for a better tomorrow for all the youths of the world.