Theme: School Reopening and Rehabilitation Strategy for COVID-19 in Southeast Asia

17 September 2020

Bangkok, Thailand. To maximise educational efficiency during COVID-19 pandemic, the 9th Annual Forum for High Officials of Basic Education of SEAMEO Member Countries and Associate Member Countries was organized virtually hosted by the Ministry of Education, Myanmar. This unprecedented virtual Annual Forum provides a platform for Basic Education’s policy discussions and suggestions in a theme of School Reopening and Rehabilitation Strategy for COVID-19 in Southeast Asia.

H E Prof Dr Myo Thein Gyi, Union Minister for Education, Myanmar gave the welcome remarks as the host of this year’s annual forum and High Officials from SEAMEO Member Countries, namely, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, and Vietnam, together with representatives from Associate Member Countries, namely Australia and Spain shared the policies and recommendations for “School Reopening and Rehabilitation Strategy for COVID-19 in Southeast Asia” to support the Southeast Asian teachers and learners to safely and efficiently resume the education in this dire time of the pandemic.  Insightful recommendations and suggestions for school reopening were also provided by partner organisations, namely UNICEF EAPRO and UNESCO Bangkok.

Dr Ethel Agnes Pascua-Valenzuela, Director, SEAMEO Secretariat provided a synthesis highlighting on the 3Rs: Recovery, Rehabilitation, and Resurgence Planning phase. In this regard, SEAMEO Secretariat has also initiated SEAMEO COVID -19 Accessible and Responsive Educational Support (CARES) Programme Fund for the development of SEA Classroom online learning resources and capacity building for SEA teachers through toolkits and learning services programme.

The virtual Annual Forum is open to everyone and the recording can be viewed on SEAMEO Secretariat's YouTube Channel by accessing this link: CLICK