Joe Takeli, who is due to come to the UK in January to take up a Commonwealth Professional Fellowship, will be the first Solomon Islander to come to London on this type of programme.
Joe, the Education Secretary for the Anglican Church of Melanesia, is one of four education administrators from across the Communion to take part in the scheme which is funded by DFID and delivered by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission.
The scheme has been put together by the Anglican Alliance that will organise the four “fellows” while they are in London. During their time in the UK they will visit education institutions inside London and beyond and will also visit Lambeth Palace, Houses of Parliament, and the Department for Education. They will have the support of a professional facilitator to ensure that the lessons they learn during their time in the UK can be put into practice when they return home.
During the nine week programme they will spend a week in Southwark Council in inner London, and a week with Harrow Council in outer London to see how local education authorities in the UK operate. They will also spend a week in Oxford and Rochester Diocesan education offices to see how Anglican education services are delivered in the UK, followed by a week in a primary and a week in a secondary school to experience the frontline of education services.
Visits to specialist services, in particular for science and sports education will be included in the programme, and the programme will finish with a week at Nottingham University to look at different models of education leadership, with a special focus on faith-based education leadership.
Along with Joe Takeli, the fellows included in the programme are Jacqueline Glasgow-Browne of St Vincent, David Agbo from Nigeria, and Seidu Dauda Adam of Ghana.