It will be the Sixth Special Meeting of the Caribbean Community's Council for Human and Social Development (COSHOD) scheduled for the Conference Centre at the Trinidad Hilton Hotel.

This first COSHOD meeting for 2003 will have a particular focus on education, according to the Community Secretariat in Georgetown, which said that among other issues the "migration of teachers from the Caribbean" will be a major area for consideration.

Concerned over the brain drain from the region and in areas that have proved particularly disadvantageous to member countries of the community, Ministers of Education of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) and Barbados participated in a meeting last July, organised by the London-based Commonwealth Secretariat.

That meeting had resulted in the signing of what has come to be known as the `Savannah Accord' (named after the venue, Savannah Hotel).

It called for research at the national level to determine the extent of the "teacher loss and the impact on the education system".

The COSHOD meeting will consider the issue when it addresses the question of free movement of skills within the 15-member community in the context of implementation of arrangements for the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME).

To be chaired by Suriname's Education Minister, Walter Sandriman, the meeting will review, according to the Community Secretariat, the regional strategy for human and social development in accordance with recommendations that flowed from the 1997 CARICOM Summit in Montego Bay, Jamaica.

Other matters on the COSHOD agenda include curriculum development embracing Spanish at the primary school level and technology and tourism education in schools, as well as education on HIV/AIDS.

Meanwhile, a two-day meeting of the Community's College of Negotiators will be convened in Kingston, Jamaica from today to finalise preparation for the 13th Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) Trade Negotiation Committee in Puebla, Mexico from April 8-11.

Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM) Director, ambassador Richard Bernal, will provide an overview of the status of FTAA negotiations.