[PRESS RELEASE] SEAMEO COUNTRIES COMMIT TO ATTAIN EDUCATION GOALS AND ACCELERATE GROWTH AND COMPETITIVENESS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

SEAMEO COUNTRIES COMMIT TO ATTAIN EDUCATION GOALS 
AND ACCELERATE GROWTH AND COMPETITIVENESS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Education Ministers and Heads of Delegations of the 11 SEAMEO Member Countries affirmed their pledge to achieving education goals and promoting growth in Southeast Asia through the signing of the “SEAMEO Statement on Strategic Collaborations toward Regional Development” in a ceremony during the 47th SEAMEO Council Conference on 19 March 2013 in Hanoi, Vietnam.

The SEAMEO Statement declares the intention of the 11 Member Countries to actively collaborate and maintain beneficial cooperation with partners and organizations in Southeast Asia which share SEAMEO’s goal to push for the region’s growth through human resource development and competitiveness.

In the Statement, the Southeast Asian education leaders subscribed to four regional strategies to enhance cooperation in education, science and culture. These include the development of programmes and creation of platforms to address cross-cutting regional issues, supporting and fast tracking the attainment of Education For All Goals and the Millennium Development Goals, harmonizing academic and professional qualifications and standards to promote greater mobility, and capacitating the SEAMEO Regional Centres to enhance relevance especially in responding to regional needs and trends.

Other stipulation in the statement includes maintaining close alliance with ASEAN to support and complement each other’s initiatives on education in Southeast Asia. This will be coupled by highlighting respect for cultural diversity, environmental responsibility, and good citizenship which form part SEAMEO’s core values.

In adopting these strategies, the 11 SEAMEO Member Countries expect that the attainment of their respective national education goals would seamlessly contribute to Southeast Asia’s integration and growth. New and existing activities of SEAMEO Member Countries and SEAMEO Regional Centres will support these regional strategies and will eventually lead towards attainment of Golden SEAMEO vision.

SEAMEO is an international and intergovernmental organization established in 1965 to promote cooperation in education, science and culture. Its 11 Member Countries include Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste and Vietnam

Guided by the ever-growing trends and developments in education in Southeast Asia and the world, SEAMEO embraces the challenges to remain relevant and become more efficient in the execution of its mandate. The provisions in the SEAMEO Statement will push this intention further to promote a better quality of life of the peoples of Southeast Asia.

BAHAGIAN DASAR DAN HUBUNGAN ANTARABANGSA

KEMENTERIAN PENDIDIKAN MALAYSIA

10 JULAI 2013