PRESS RELEASE: 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 will convene the first virtual 51st SEAMEO Council Conference (51st SEAMEC) on 17 June 2021.

The virtual conference shall be 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 the ASEAN Secretariat, 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 and the current SEAMEO Council President will officially open 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.

The 51st SEAMEC will highlight the presentation of SEAMEO Affiliate Membership to the British Columbia Council for International Education (BCCIE), Canada. In addition, the application of the Kingdom of Morocco as a new Associate Member of SEAMEO will be proposed at the 51st SEAMEC for approval.

The highlighted working papers in the Plenary session include SEAMEO Strategic Plan 2021-2030, and reports on the SEAMEO Regional Programmes such as SEAMEO Congress 2021, SEAMEO Inter-Centre Collaboration, Digital Kids Asia-Pacific (DKAP), and Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics.

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 Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan) will also be officially announced to the Ministers and High Officials at the 51st SEAMEC. (Refer to the list of the winners)

Ms Alice Albright, Chief Executive Officer of Global Partnership for Education is invited to present and share her vision and wisdom on “Collaboration and Partnership in Post-Pandemic Era: Bridging the Distance through Technology” during the Plenary session.

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”, will be 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, which will guide SEAMEO’s education agenda and the activities of the regional centres for the next decade. The Ministers will 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” will be launched as a Singapore Statement of the  SDEM 5 and will be adopted by the SEAMEO Council to commit to improving educational outcomes in the region.

For more information, please contact:
The SEAMEO Secretariat, Bangkok, Thailand
Ms Piyapa Su-angavatin, KM Manager (piyapa@seameo.org)
Ms Pitchayawadi Arreenich, Document Officer (pitchayawadi@seameo.org)

For more information, please visit www.seameo.org