Special
High Officials Meeeting
Amari
Orchid Resort, Pattaya, Chon Buri, Thailand
29-31 May 2002
Proceedings
Appendix II |
A Keynote Address by His Excellency Mr Suwit Khunkitti Minister of Education, Thailand and President of SEAMEO Council at the Opening Session of SEAMEO Special High Officials Meeting 29 May 2002 at 0900 hrs Amari Orchid Resort, Pattaya, Chon Buri, Thailand |
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Let
me first of all extend my warmest welcome to all of you and to thank
you sincerely for revisiting Thailand, four months after the last
SEAMEO Council Conference in Chiang Mai. May I also thank the SEAMEO
Secretariat for promptly following-up on the SEAMEO Council’s resolution
and the SEAMEO Declaration on Quality and Equity in Education in
Southeast Asia. |
| As you may be well aware, this project was initially my proposal which was submitted to the In-camera Session of the SEAMEO Council Conference on 12 March this year. The Conference, under the leadership of His Excellency Tan Sri Dato’Seri Musa bin Mohamad, Minister of Education, Malaysia, the then President of SEAMEO Council unanimously approved the project and subsequently agreed to sign the SEAMEO Declaration. Both the concept paper and the SEAMEO Declaration, I believe, are being tabled at this meeting for further consideration and for immediate actions. |
Distinguished
Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen, there is no need for me to reiterate
the importance and the urgency of regional cooperation on the quality
and equity in education in SEAMEO. This matter, as we all envisaged,
has become more imperative due to the impacts of globalization and
the rapidly expanding role of knowledge, information, and communication,
particularly at the interface of society, economy, culture and technology.
Furthermore, quality and equity in education should also be considered
in the context of national and international efforts to reduce poverty,
to build knowledge society and to strengthen inclusive approaches
to educational social and cultural deliveries. |
Ladies
and Gentlemen, may I reiterate my statement made during the 37th
SEAMEO Council Conference in March this year that the basic idea
of this proposal reflects the guidelines provided by the Malacca
Workshop last year as well as the common concern of decision makers
and educators in our region and other regions. May I also take this
opportunity to quote from the statement of His Excellency Thaksin
Shinawatra, Prime Minister of Thailand made at the Opening of Chiang
Mai SEAMEO Council Conference that “the promotion of equitable and
relevant basic education will enable all countries and their peoples
to effectively respond to the emerging challenges of globalization.
The gaps between the rich and the poor should not, and cannot, be
considered only in terms of an economic gap, as there are other
serious and divisive gaps that need to be urgently narrowed, particularly
in the area of knowledge and information. Educational cooperation,
therefore, needs to address the issues of poverty alleviation, quality
of life promotion, drugs prevention, basic health care, as well
as information and communication technology.” |
As
emphasized in the above statements, Thailand has launched a major
policy highlighting actions to promote quality and equity in our
social and educational deliveries. The Ministry of Education, under
my direction and supervision, has launched a Decade on Quality and
Equity in Education starting this year. We very much hope the decade
will enable us to sustain our work on the promotion of quality and
equity in education in Thailand. |
Ladies
and Gentlemen, with all the challenges facing us, it is even more
important that we, in SEAMEO, exchange and share our experiences
and best practices, not only at the policy levels, but also at the
local and school-based levels. I am therefore very glad to learn
that during the meeting, Mr. Charoon Shoolap, the Education Permanent
Secretary of Thailand has arranged to take the participants on school
visits. The schools you are visiting though not the best schools
in terms of buildings and equipment, will demonstrate to you how
their teachers and administrators have attempted to collaborate
with the communities and the private sector, in trying to improve
the quality and equity of their educational delivery. Even though
we all recognize that there is no single ideal model of quality
in school education, I do hope that the visit to our schools will
at least provide you with case bases for further deliberations,
and will serve as a starting point for discussion and for the creation
of the SEAMEO coalition schools for quality and equity. |
Ladies
and Gentlemen, I look forward to hearing the outcomes of your discussions
and deliberation. I also plan to keep up with what will be further
carried out in the SEAMEO countries following this Special High
Officials Meeting. May I conclude my address by wishing the meeting
every success. I also wish you a pleasant stay in Thailand and I
hope to see you all again in November this year during the next
High Officials Meeting. |
| Thank you. |
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