SEAMEO High Officials Meeting

The High Officials Meeting is the forerunner of  the annual SEAMEO Council Conference. An annual meeting convened by the SEAMEO Secretariat, the delegates are high officials or representatives from the Ministries of Education of SEAMEO Member States, Directors of the SEAMEO Secretariat and the Regional Centres/Network, and their senior staff. As the SEAMEO Secretariat is situated in Bangkok, Thailand, it has been chosen as the meeting venue.

The proposed programmes, finances, legal aspects and other important matters concerning the administration and operation of  the SEAMEO Organization are scrutinized at the meeting, and  recommendations are also made for further consideration at the SEAMEO Council Conference.

Project Directors Meeting (1967)

The first meeting of  the Project Directors was convened from 6 -10 November 1967 in order to confer with one another on problems pertaining to the establishment of the Regional Centres such as funding schemes, fund raising, legal aspects and public relations.  A common approach for the presentation to the SEAMEO Council Conference was devised.

Project Directors / High Officials Meeting (1968 - 1977)

From the second meeting (25 - 28 June 1968) to the thirteenth meeting 14 -19 December 1977),  the conference was named Project Directors / High Officials Meeting. 

High Officials Meeting (1978 - present)

As directed by the SEAMEO Council, a special meeting of High Officials was convened by the SEAMEO Secretariat in September 1978 to review its operating expenses. The First High Officials Meeting was held in November 1978. 

The final report of each meeting consists of two volumes ( three volumes prior to 1994) .  Volume I contains proceedings and  recommendations, and volume II includes the working papers.   Since 1998, Volume II : the working papers have been available in CD-ROM format.  Production of  volume III, which contained Reports from the Secretariat Director and Centre Directors has been discontinued from 1994 onward.

In addition to the regular SEAMEO matters, the 29th SEAMEO High Officials Meeting featured the "Discussion Forum" for the Ministries of Education to present papers on key issues.

The final reports are distributed to participants of the meeting and available for references at the SEAMEO Secretariat Library and the Regional Centres/Network.  The following list of the High Officials Meeting reports is arranged  in reverse chronological order.

Project Directors / High Officials Meeting  (1968 - 1977)