Education Leaders of Southeast Asia Discuss Education Agenda beyond 2015
Education ministers and high-level education officials of the 11 countries of Southeast Asia which compose the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) will convene on 13 September 2014 at the Landmark Mekong Riverside Hotel, Vientiane, Lao PDR to discuss education agenda for the next decade.
Dubbed as “Strategic Dialogue of Education Ministers” or SDEM, the one-day meeting of the Southeast Asian education ministers aims to yield a more dynamic and forward-looking regional policy development process through a dialogue on the Post-2015 education agenda for Southeast Asia.
Expected to be attended by more than 50 key officials from the ministries of education of the 11 SEAMEO member countries, the SDEM will revisit the efforts and achievements of the grouping of the Southeast Asia countries on the education goals set under the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the Education For All (EFA) Goals. Discussions will then tackle a SEAMEO-focused education agenda which will anchor on existing global and regional discussions on Post-2015 education, as well as highlight unique needs of Southeast Asia particularly in the pursuit of continuous development of human resource development in the region, and in support of the ASEAN Community.
The SDEM follows the weeklong meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) including the 8th ASEAN Education Ministers Meeting (ASED) from 9-12 September 2014 in Vientiane, Lao DPR.
The dialogue is organized under the framework of the SEAMEO College, a flagship project of SEAMEO which introduces a platform for high-level discussions on forward-looking issues and concerns that will help prepare Southeast Asia for the challenges of the future, and support the ASEAN community. The project is supported by the Asian Development Bank through the Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction, and executed by the SEAMEO Secretariat and SEAMEO Regional Centres.
H E Dr Phankham Viphavanh, Minister of Education and Sports of Lao PDR, and H E Prof Dr Pham Vu Luan, Minister of Education and Training of Vietnam and President of the SEAMEO Council, will welcome the delegations and officiate the opening of the one-day dialogue.
The SDEM will comprise two roundtables. HE Br Armin A Luistro, Secretary of Education of the Philippines will lead the first set of discussion to encourage reflections of the education ministers on their journeys to achieve Education for All in their respective countries which impact the region. HE Pehin Abu Bakar Apong, Minister for Education of Brunei Darussalam, will take over the second part of the dialogue which focuses on emerging trends, drivers of change, and the unmet challenges affecting education in Southeast Asia. The roundtables will also tackle ways to strengthen regional cooperation to implement the future education agenda in the framework of SEAMEO, and support the ASEAN Community.
The dialogue is also expected to adopt an output document outlining the salient features of the post-2015 SEAMEO agenda, and recommendations for concrete actions on education to be pursued by the regional grouping of the education ministers.
The SDEM is the first module and one of the four components of the SEAMEO College focusing on educational policy involving the Ministers of Education. The other modules are meant to address case studies on good practices, education innovations for school heads and education practitioners, and a regional forum for youth leaders.
Invited observers to the dialogue include the ASEAN Secretariat, UNESCO Asia and Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, and Asian Development Bank.
SEAMEO is an international and regional intergovernmental organization whose members are Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam. It has 21 Specialist Regional Centres in Southeast Asia.
SEAMEO collaborates with global and international organizations like UNESCO, UNICEF, Asian Development Bank, ASEAN and others in the execution of its mandate which is the promotion of cooperation in education, science and culture. It is also supported by its Associate Member Countries: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, New Zealand and Spain. The International Council for Open and Distance Education, Tsukuba University, Japan and the British Council are Affiliate Members. The headquarters of SEAMEO is located in Bangkok, Thailand.
For more information, please contact:
The SEAMEO Secretariat
c/o Abigail C Lanceta abigail@seameo.org or Marina H Oro marina@seameo.org
MLP Centenary Bldg., 920 Sukhumvit Road, Bangkok 10110 Thailand
Tel: +66 (0) 2391-0144
Website: www.seameo.org
SEAMEO INNOTECH
c/o Benito Benoza bennet@seameo-innotech.org
SEAMEO Regional Centre for Educational Innovation and Technology
Commonwealth Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City 1101, The Philippines
Tel: +63 (2) 924-7681
Website: http://www.seameo-innotech.org
