Singapore Hosts the First Virtual 51st SEAMEO Council Conference 2021

The Ministry of Education, Singapore in cooperation with the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Secretariat convened the first virtual 51st SEAMEO Council Conference (51st SEAMEC) on 17 June 2021.

H E Mr Chan Chun Sing, Minister for Education of Singapore, and
newly-elected SEAMEO Council President.

The virtual conference attended by more than 200 participants comprising of the Ministers of Education, heads of delegation, and senior education officials from 11 SEAMEO Member Countries (Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam); representatives from 8 SEAMEO Associate Member Countries; 5 Affiliate Members; and 26 SEAMEO Regional Centres/Network as well as SEAMEO partners such as UNESCO Bangkok, UNICEF Regional Office for Asia and Pacific, GIZ, Weidong Cloud Education, DVV International, Global Partnership for Education, Korea Educational Development Institute (KEDI).   

H E Dr Radzi Jidin, Senior Minister of Education of Malaysia, and the current SEAMEO Council President officially opened the Conference, followed by the welcome remarks by H E Mr Chan Chun Sing, Minister for Education of Singapore, and newly-elected SEAMEO Council President. H E Dr Leonor Magtolis Briones, Secretary of Education, Department of Education, Philippines was nominated as the Vice Chair of the SEAMEO Council.   

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H E Dr Radzi Jidin, Senior Minister of Education of Malaysia		H E Dr Leonor Magtolis Briones, Secretary of Education, Department of Education, Philippines and newly-elected Vice Chair of the SEAMEO Council

The 51st SEAMEC approved the proclamation of the Kingdom of Morocco as an Associate Member Country of SEAMEO. Prior to the proclamation of the Kingdom of Morocco, the Associate Member Countries of SEAMEO comprises Australia, Canada, Germany, France, New Zealand, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, and Spain. The Kingdom of Morocco is the first Arab and African country to be granted as the ‘SEAMEO Associate Member’ status.       

H E Mr Chan Chun Sing, Minister for Education of Singapore, and newly-elected SEAMEO Council President presented the proclamation of a new SEAMEO Associate Membership to
H E Mr Abdelilah EI Housni, Morocco's Ambassador to Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar. The SEAMEO Council President also presented the SEAMEO Affiliate Membership Certificate to Dr Randall Martin, Executive Director of BritishColumbia Council for International Education (BCCIE), Canada as an Affiliate Member of SEAMEO.

H E Mr Chan Chun Sing presented the proclamation of a new Associate Member to
the Ambassador H E Mr Abdelilah EI Housni, Embassy of the Kingdom of Morocco.

H E Mr Chan Chun Sing presented the SEAMEO Affiliate Membership Certificate to
Dr Randall Martin, Executive Director of BCCIE.

The 51st SEAMEO Council highlighted the approval of the SEAMEO Strategic Plan 2021-2030 The SSP 2021-2030 features the SEAMEO Seven Priority Areas in Education, Science and Culture which will also serve as the blueprint of SEAMEO in the next 10 years for developing programmes and projects that have sustained relevance and responsiveness in the digital era of the Southeast Asian region.   

The winners of the 2020/2021SEAMEO-Australia Education Links Award, (in collaboration with the Australia Government Department of Education, Skills and Employment) and the 2020 SEAMEO-Japan ESD Award (in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan) were officially announced to the Ministers and High Officials at the 51st SEAMEC.

Virtual Award Presentation of 2020/2021SEAMEO-Australia Education Links Award and
2020 SEAMEO-Japan ESD Award

Organised back to back with the 51st SEAMEC, the 5th Strategic Dialogue for Education Ministers (SDEM 5) following the theme of Singapore’s presidency, “New Education Imperatives in a Post-COVID Era”, was exclusively conducted for the Ministers to have an open, conversational-style discussion with one another on how SEAMEO countries can begin to further the refreshed priorities laid out in the SEAMEO Strategic Plan (SSP) 2021- 2030. The Ministers also share their vision and countries’ interventions on how to prepare Future-Ready Learners and ensure Education as an Uplifting Force.

The “SEAMEO Council’s Commitment to Action” was launched as a Singapore Statement of the SDEM 5 and adopted by the SEAMEO Council to commit to improving educational outcomes in the region.