London: Commonwealth Education Ministers have drawn up a protocol to identify how teachers across the grouping can have greater access to working in other Commonwealth countries as a continuing professional development activity, without affecting the source country.

The protocol was signed at a meeting attended by ministers and senior officials from 26 Commonwealth countries including India at Lincolnshire on Wednesday (Sep 1, 2004).

It has committed the ministers to establish a working group, which would include appropriate permanent observers from professional organisations and civil society. Minister of State for Human Resource Development M A Fatmi represented India at the meeting.

The protocol comes amid concern among developing countries, particularly African countries, over flight of qualified schoolteachers to developed countries like Britain at a time when they are needed at home.

Last year alone, more than 5,000 teachers from developing countries, including India, were recruited by British schools. Most came from African and Caribbean countries, with South Africa accounting for the bulk of them.

Representatives from these countries complained that the 'brain drain' was affecting their efforts to achieve the UN target of providing primary education to all children by 2015.

Under the new agreement - the Commonwealth Teacher Recruitment Protocol - recruitment agencies, which continue to poach on countries where there is shortage of qualified teachers would lose their "quality mark" - a form of accreditation without which they will not be trusted by schools to recruit on their behalf.