Final
Report: 41st SEAMEO Council Conference
The Swissotel the Stamford
Republic of Singapore
22-23 March 2006
The Swissotel the Stamford
Republic of Singapore
22-23 March 2006
Proceedings
Contents |
| Proceedings |
| Appendices |
Appendix
6 |
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Joint Statement from the 1st ASEAN Education Ministers Meeting and 41st SEAMEO Council Conference 23 March 2006, Singapore |
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| INTRODUCTION | ||
| 1. | Education
Ministers (hereinafter referred to as “the Ministers”)
and senior education officials from Southeast Asian countries gathered
in Singapore on 21 – 23 March 2006 for the 1st ASEAN Education
Ministers Meeting (ASED) and the 41st Southeast Asian Ministers
of Education Organisation (SEAMEO) Council Conference. |
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| 2. | The
ASED was institutionalised as a regular ASEAN Meeting by the ASEAN
Leaders at the 11th ASEAN Summit held in Malaysia in December 2005.
The ASEAN Education Ministers had earlier agreed, during their informal
retreat held in Thailand in August 2005, that the ASED would be
held back-to-back with the annual meeting of the SEAMEO Council
Conference. |
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| 3. | The
41st SEAMEO Council Conference was officially opened by His Excellency
Professor S Jayakumar, Deputy Prime Minister, Coordinating Minister
for National Security and Minister for Law, Singapore. SEAMEO is
pleased to admit the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste as the 11th
Member Country and welcome them to the conference. |
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| 4. | Apart
from the Education Ministers from the Southeast Asian countries,
the ASEAN Secretary General, SEAMEO Secretariat Director, senior
education officials from the Associate Member Countries of SEAMEO,
namely Australia, Canada, France, New Zealand and Norway, partner
organisations and observers also attended the Conference. The meetings
were supported by the ASEAN Secretariat and SEAMEO Secretariat. |
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| 5. | In
addition to reviewing the plans and programmes of SEAMEO units and
exchanging views on education issues, the Ministers also attended
the Art and Design Exhibition and visited schools and education
institutions in Singapore. The Art and Design Exhibition “Colours
of Southeast Asia” was held in conjunction with the 1st ASED
and 41st SEAMEO Council Conference, and showcases the rich culture
and heritage of the region through art and design works from the
different Southeast Asian countries. |
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PROMOTION OF ASEAN IDENTITY AND SOCIO-CULTURAL COMMUNITY
– BUILDING ON THE STRENGTHS OF OUR MULTI-ETHNIC SOCIETIES |
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| 6. | Recognising
that ASEAN identity is made up of the different socio-cultural identities
of the ASEAN Member Countries, the Ministers at the 1st ASED agreed
that ASEAN can draw lessons and opportunities from the experiences
of the Member Countries in managing cultural and racial diversity.
The Ministers re-affirmed that education plays an important role
in the promotion of regional identity and the ASEAN Socio-Cultural
Community. The Ministers emphasized the critical role that education
has to play in fostering greater inter-cultural, inter-religious
and inter-racial understanding within and between societies in the
region. |
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| 7. | The
Ministers also noted that there are currently many activities and
programmes that enhance interactions and exchanges among students
and educationists in the region on a bilateral or ASEAN wide basis.
The Ministers shared the view that in order to strengthen awareness
and understanding of ASEAN amongst the young, these existing interactions
and exchanges should be deepened, as well as expanded to include
more Member Countries. |
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| 8. | To
realise the vision of a cohesive and outward-looking ASEAN Community,
the ASEAN Education Ministers agreed on the following initiatives:- |
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| a. | Strengthen
educational resources available to each member country in the area
of ASEAN studies. This can be done through the use of ICT in developing
and updating information among the ASEAN countries. The ASEAN Secretariat
will work with the Member Countries and the SEAMEO Secretariat to
compile source books on ASEAN, which will serve as useful resource
materials for schools in ASEAN. |
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| b. | Strengthen
activities that bring ASEAN students and teachers together through
more ASEAN studies to engender the ASEAN consciousness; and through
more people-to-people interactions to strengthen the bonds and foster
the ASEAN identity. |
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| c. | Initiate
and support a parallel collaborative process among researchers and
academics of ASEAN Member Countries on the role of education in
addressing the challenges and opportunities of multi-ethnic societies
and the diverse ASEAN community. This aims to generate useful and
relevant outputs to inform ASEAN’s education policy-makers.
To this end, the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies of Singapore
will facilitate a collaborative study and the organisation of a
conference to discuss the findings of the study. Recommendations
from the study will be reported to the Ministers at the 2nd ASED. |
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QUALITY IN EDUCATION – RESPONDING TO NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
PRIORITIES |
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| 9. | At
the Policy Forum of the 41st SEAMEO Council Conference, Singapore
gave a briefing on the evolution of Singapore’s education
system - “The Role of Education in National Development”.
Participants noted the changing priorities and policies in response
to the changing developmental and socio-economic needs of the country
over the decades since independence. |
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| 10. | The
SEAMEO Ministers also shared and discussed their respective national
education experiences and priorities. The Ministers agreed to strengthen
collaborations in 3 key areas :- |
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| a. | Language
Education. Noting the challenges in the teaching of
mother tongue, national language and English, the Ministers agreed
on the need to share and learn from one another’s experiences,
including use of IT in language education. |
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| b. | Vocational/Technical
Education. The Ministers recognised the important
role of vocational and technical education in supporting the economic
development of a country, and agreed to study ways to facilitate
deeper sharing of experiences and best practices among member countries
in the area of vocational and technical education. |
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| c. | School
Leadership. School leadership is key to enhancement
of education in schools. The Ministers therefore agreed that special
focus should be accorded to the selection and training of school
leaders. In this respect, the Ministers noted, with appreciation,
the sponsorship offer by Singapore for two school leaders from each
Southeast Asian country to attend the International Leaders in Education
Programme (iLEP) at the National Institute of Education, Singapore
in September 2006. Through the iLEP, school leaders from the region
will have the opportunity to engage in deliberations on educational
leadership and exchange views on leading and promoting innovation
in schools. At the same time, the iLEP will facilitate the building
of a learning and sharing network among school leaders from SEAMEO
Member Countries. |
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| NEXT STEPS | ||
| 11. | The
Ministers tasked the Senior Officials responsible for Education
to follow up and coordinate the implementation and study of the
ideas and initiatives raised at the 1st ASED and 41st SEAMEO Council
Conference. The Ministers also requested that their initiatives
on promoting regional identity be highlighted to the ASEAN Leaders
at the 12th ASEAN Summit to be held in the Philippines in December
2006. |
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| 12. | The
Ministers expressed their appreciation to Singapore for her hospitality
as host of the 1st ASED and 41st SEAMEO Council Conference. The
2nd ASED and 42nd SEAMEO Council Conference will be held in Indonesia
in 2007. |
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