The Journal of Southeast Asian Education is the official publication of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) and is published twice a year. The main purpose of this international journal is to provide information and analysis to assist in policy making and planning in the countries in the region. It promotes the interchange of ideas on educational issues, and comparative studies, both within the countries of the region and other parts of the world. Each article in the journal will be written to enable readers from outside the country to obtain an overview of the education provision in the country. International academicians such as Professor Alex Fung from Hong Kong Baptist University, Professor David Teather from the University of New England, Australia; Dr Erlinda Pefianco from Philippines form the editorial board of the journal.

The theme of the first issue of the Journal addresses Challenges in the New Millenium with official contributions from the Ministries of Education of the following SEAMEO Member Countries: Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

This inaugural issue contains five sections, the first of which is on "History of Education Provision." This section comprises a brief account of the history of education in the country. It includes also the historical evolution of institutions and systems together with a view of education from the perspectives of teachers, parents and students. The second section deals with "the Current Context of Education" which includes references to important social, cultural and economic factors in the country with appropriate reference to statistical data and socio-economic-indicators. Variations between regions, between the cities and the countryside, and between different groups and genders in the population are also identified and discussed when deem significant. The third section addresses the "Aims of education," at various levels, in the education system. The fourth section describes the nature of the current provision of education which includes structure of schools, school system, both public and private; governance and finance of the schools and school system; pre-school education; and post-school education. The last section on "Issues to be addressed" identifies and discusses the policy issues that remain to be addressed in the early years of the new millennium. For example, some of the issues identified by Thailand are as follows: participation of the private sector, increasing non-formal sources of knowledge, developing new systems to facilitate transfer of credits, provision of education to those without house registration.

To celebrate the inaugural issue of the Journal of Southeast Asian Education, SEAMEO Secretariat hosted a cocktail reception at the Sukhothai room, Century Park Hotel on 10 July 2000 at 7 p.m.