Bangkok, Thailand: SEAMEO Secretariat hosted the SEAMEO Executive Committee (EC) Meeting virtually via zoom on 27 August 2021 at 09.30-11.30 hrs (BKK Time) on the timely leadership of Singapore as SEAMEO Council President.

The EC Meeting is held by the SEAMEO Secretariat annually. It plays a crucial role in advising the High Officials on the overall thrusts and efforts of the SEAMEO Units, as well as setting directions and making recommendations on the management of the SEAMEO Secretariat.

Mr Lai Chung Han, Permanent Secretary (Education), Ministry of Education (Singapore), and Chair of the EC Meeting 2021 gave the opening remarks and expressed his appreciation to the five-country Executive Committee Members consisting of Cambodia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.

Mr Lai Chung Han,
Permanent Secretary (Education), Ministry of Education (Singapore), and
Chair of the EC Meeting 2021 gave the opening remarks

The Chair acknowledged the progress made on the development of the 9th SEAMEO Integrated Operational Plans (SIOP) 2021-2025 to be aligned with the SEAMEO Strategic Plan 2021-2025, which has been recently adopted by 11 Ministers of Education of Southeast Asian Countries on 17 June 2021 to champion education transformation in Southeast Asia through strategic collaboration and partnerships.

Dr Ethel Valenzuela,
Director of SEAMEO Secretariat delivered welcome remarks

A total of 14 working papers including reports and updates on the recent and ongoing programmes of SEAMEO units as well as new proposals were discussed. The nine working papers on the reports and updates consisted of SEAMEO-UNESCO Coordination Meeting; SEAMEO-ASEAN Coordination Meeting; High-Level Forum on Teacher Competencies in the Digital Revolution: Reaching the Unreached (Virtual); SEAMEO COVID-19 Accessible and Responsive Education Support (SEAMEO CARES) and SEAMEO Border Schools Quality Inclusive Education Project (BSQIEP); an update on a Technical Working Group to review the SEAMEO Charter; and Update on the Development of Ninth SEAMEO Integrated Operational Plan (SIOP) 2021-2025. In addition, the presentation on the SEAMEO Secretariat’s Accomplishments (VIDEO); SEAMEO Secretariat Financial Status; and SEAMEO Secretariat’s Performance Survey FY2020/2021.

Five new proposals were presented: (1) Revised Guidelines on Governing Board Meeting of SEAMEO Regional Centres and Network, (2) Revision of Organisational Structure of SEAMEO Secretariat, (3) The Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM) Strategic Plan 2021-2025, (4) The Education University of Hong Kong as SEAMEO Affiliate Member, and (5) John Wiley & Sons (Singapore) Pte Ltd as SEAMEO Affiliate Member. The committee deliberated all these in a spirit of camaraderie and mutual understanding.

The next SEAMEO Executive Committee Meeting will be organized in August 2022.