History

1965

• On 30 November 1965 ,at the invitation of His Excellency Mom Luang Pin Malakul, Minister of Education of Thailand, the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) was established as a result of a meeting among the Ministers of Education of Lao PDR, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam; the Chairperson of UNESCO National Commission of the Philippines; and the Special Adviser to the President of the United States of America, Mr Eugene Black.

1966

• The establishment of the first two SEAMEO Regional Centres:
  • SEAMEO Regional Centre for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEAMEO SEARCA)
  • Four Centres of the SEAMEO Regional Tropical Medicine and Public Health Network (SEAMEO TROPMED), with a coordinating unit, the TROPMED Central Office in Thailand:
    • SEAMEO Regional Centre for Microbiology, Parasitology and Entomology (Malaysia)
    • SEAMEO Regional Centre for Community Nutrition (Indonesia)
      
    • SEAMEO Regional Centre for Public Health (Philippines)
    • SEAMEO Regional Centre for Tropical Medicine (Thailand)

1967

• The establishment of SEAMEO Regional Centre for Education in Science and Mathematics (SEAMEO
  RECSAM) in Malaysia

1968

• The establishment of:
  1. SEAMEO Regional Centre for Tropical Biology (SEAMEO BIOTROP) in Indonesia
  2. SEAMEO Regional Language Centre (SEAMEO RELC) in Singapore
• The signing of the SEAMEO Charter by the Ministers of Education of Indonesia (Soemantri Hardjoprakoso), Lao (Leuam Insissienmay), Malaysia (Mohamed Khir Johari), the Philippines (Carlos P. Romulo), Singapore (Ong Pang Boon) and Thailand (ML Pin Malakul) on 7 February 1968, and later by Vietnam (Nguyen Van Tho), on 28 June 1968.

1970

• The Agreement between the Government of Thailand and SEAMEO regarding the Headquarters of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization in Thailand signed on 9 October

1970

• The establishment of SEAMEO Regional Centre for Educational Innovation and Technology
  (SEAMEO INNOTECH) in Vietnam.

1971

• Cambodia, (then Khmer Republic), was accepted as a SEAMEO Member Country.

1973

• The provision for Associate Membership in the SEAMEO Charter was established.
• France became the first SEAMEO Associate Member Country.
• The 8 th SEAMEO Council Conference approved in principle by the creation of the Applied Research Centre for Archeology and Fine Arts (ARCAFA) in Phnom Penh. Subsequently, SEAMEO transferred ARCAFA to Thailand during the Civil War in Cambodia.
• Australia and New Zealand joined SEAMEO as the second and third Associate Member Countries
  respectively.

1978

• The SEAMEO Regional Project for Archeology and Fine Arts (SEAMEO SPAFA) was founded in Thailand.

1983

• The 18th SEAMEO Council Conference in Penang, Malaysia approved the revision of the SEAMEO Charter to cover Affiliate Membership.

1984

• Brunei Darussalam became the ninth Member Country.
• The Association of Canadian Community Colleges (ACCC) joined SEAMEO as the Affiliate
  Member.

1985

• The SEAMEO SPAFA was reconstituted into a SEAMEO Regional Centre to be hosted by the Government of Thailand, maintaining SPAFA as the acronym.

1988

• Canada was accepted as an Associate Member Country.
• ACCC withdrew its Affiliate Membership status in favour of Canada' s Associate Membership.

1990

• The SEAMEO Regional Centre for Vocational and Technical Education (SEAMEO VOCTECH) was
  set up in Brunei Darussalam.
• Germany became the fifth SEAMEO Associate Member Country.

1992

• The Socialist Republic of Vietnam joined SEAMEO.
  

1993

• The SEAMEO Regional Centre for Higher Education (SEAMEO RIHED) was established in Thailand.
• The Netherlands became the sixth SEAMEO Associate Member Country.

1996

• The SEAMEO Regional Training Centre (SEAMEO RETRAC) was founded in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

1997

• The SEAMEO Regional Open Learning Centre (SEAMEO SEAMOLEC) was set up in Indonesia.

1998

• Union of Myanmar became the 10th SEAMEO Member Country.

1999

• The International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) joined SEAMEO as an Affiliate Member.

2000

• The SEAMEO Regional Centre for History and Tradition (SEAMEO CHAT) was inaugurated in the Union of Myanmar.

2005

• Norway became the seventh SEAMEO Associate Member Country.

2006

• The 41st SEAMEO Council Conference recognised the accession of Timor-Leste as the 11th SEAMEO Member Country.

2007

• Kingdom of Spain became the eighth SEAMEO Associate Member Country in accession ceremonies during the 42nd SEAMEO Council Conference.

2009

• The establishment of:
  • SEAMEO Regional Centre for Quality Improvement of Teachers and Education Personnel (QITEP) in Language in Indonesia
  • SEAMEO Regional Centre for Quality Improvement of Teachers and Education Personnel (QITEP) in Mathematics in Indonesia
  • SEAMEO Regional Centre for Quality Improvement of Teachers and Education Personnel (QITEP) in Science in Indonesia.
  • SEAMEO Regional Centre for Special Education (SEAMEO SEN) was established in Malaysia.
    
    
• University of Tsukuba, Japan joined SEAMEO as an Affiliate Member.

2010

• SEAMEO Regional Center for Food and Nutrition (SEAMEO RECFON) was established in Indonesia.
• SEAMEO TROPMED Indonesia is restructured as SEAMEO Regional Center for Food and Nutrition (SEAMEO RECFON).
• The British Council joined SEAMEO as an Affiliate Member.

2012

• The establishment of SEAMEO Regional Centre for Lifelong Learning (SEAMEO CELLL) in Vietnam.

2013

• United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland became the ninth SEAMEO Associated Member Country.

2015

• China Education Association for International Exchange (CEAIE) became a new affiliate member of SEAMEO
• Canada remains as a SEAMEO Associate Member, but in an inactive status after 2015.
  

2017

• Signing of Legal Documents (EI and MoU) of SEAMEO CECCEP, SEAMEO CED and SEAMEO TED at the 49th SEAMEO Council Conference, Plenary Session, Hotel Mulia Senayan, Jakarta, Indonesia. The Director of SEAMEO Secretariat, Dr Ir Gatot Hari Priowirjanto, represented SEAMEO in the signing ceremony.

2018

• The establishment of five new SEAMEO Regional Centres:

• SEAMEO Regional Centre for Early Childhood Care Education and Parenting (SEAMEO CECCEP), Indonesia
• SEAMEO Regional Centre for Community Education Development (SEAMEO CED), Lao PDR
• SEAMEO Regional Centre for Technical Education Development (SEAMEO TED), Cambodia
• SEAMEO Regional Centre for Sufficiency Economy Philosophy for Sustainability (SEAMEO SEPS), Thailand
• SEAMEO Regional Centre for Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics Education (SEAMEO STEM-ED), Thailand 

• Asia-Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding (APCEIU) became a new affiliate member of SEAMEO. (MC-2018/IC/WP/15)

2019

• Minister of Education, Malaysia, H E Dr Maszlee Malik, represented SEAMEO Council in signing of the Memorandum of Agreements (MOAs) and Enabling Instruments (EI) of SEAMEO Regional Centre for Sufficiency Economy Philosophy for Sustainability (SEAMEO SEPS) and SEAMEO Regional Centre on Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics Education (SEAMEO STEM-ED) at the 50th SEAMEO Council Conference, Plenary Session, Sunway Resort Hotel and Spa, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

2020

• The first SEAMEO Ministerial Policy e-Forum was held in September.
• The British Columbia Council for International Education (BCCIE) became a new Affiliate Membership of SEAMEO. (MC-2020/IC/WP/12)
• H E YB Dr Mohd Radzi Md Jidin, Minister of Education, Malaysia, was elected as the new SEAMEO Council President.

2021

• H E Chan Chun Sing, Minister for Education of Singapore, was elected as the new SEAMEO Council President and Chair of the 51st SEAMEO Council Conference.
• Launch of SEAMEO Strategic Plan 2021- 2030, and 7 priority areas in Education, Science and Culture  
• The Kingdom of Morocco became a new Associate Membership of SEAMEO. (MC-51/IC/WP/19)
• SEAMEO SEN revised an institution name and logo from "SEAMEO Regional Centre for Special Education" to "SEAMEO Regional Centre for Special Educational Needs" 

2022

• The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK) became a new Affiliate Membership of SEAMEO. (MC-2022/IC/WP/6)