Education Futures: Going for Gold

Yongyuth Yuthavong

Former Minister of Science and Technology

Thailand

The Launch of SEAMEO College

Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization 20 March 2013, 1115-1200 hrs

Grand Ballroom, Daewoo Hotel, Hanoi, Vietnam

SEAMEO College: Flagship Initiative

• Strengthening SEAMEO’s capacity to promote education and social development in Southeast Asia

• Support for a regional platform on innovations in education and human resource development towards an integrated ASEAN Communiy

Three major components

• Modules

– Policy development - Ministers

– Strategic and standards setting – High officials

– Accessing, sharing and documenting good practices – Education practitioners and youth leaders

• Research

• Human and technology capacity strengthening

The three components should interact

Looking around for benchmarks

• World Economic Forum – World leaders, at Davos – Economic and other policy issues, global competitiveness,

started 1971 by business leaders

• Science and Technology in Society (STS) Forum – Ministers of Science and Technology, in Kyoto – Science, technology and innovation policy, role in society,

started 2004 by Minister Koji Omi

• UNESCO Ministerial Roundtables – Ministers of Education/Science/Culture, in Paris – Policy and practice relating UNESCO, generally during

General Conferences

How would SEAMEO College make a mark?

• Must become an important policy forum

– For world education, with SE Asia as example

– With strong political and societal support

• Must have wide participation

– Government and business leaders

– Grassroot, civil society leaders

– Education leaders

• Must become benchmark for education policy, especially for developing countries

Key to Gold: Benchmark for Education Policy for Developing Countries

• Develop key themes in education policy

– Education policy for low and middle income countries

– Active and interactive learning

– Role of the private sector and local communities

– Education innovations

• Hold annual, worldwide conference on a key theme

– Eg. Prince Mahidol Award Conference on Health

• Produce important documents in education

– Policy documents from research

– Lessons from successful developing countries

– Rating of educational instituttions in developing countries

Some suggestions for the key annual event of SEAMEO College

• SEASE - Southeast Asian Summit on Education

• SECSE – SEAMEO College Summit on Education

• SESAME – Summit on Education of Southeast Asian Ministers of Education

Boutique

1. a small shop or a small specialty department within a larger store, especially one that sells fashionable clothes and accessories or a special selection of other merchandise.

2. any small, exclusive business offering customized service.

3. a small business, department, etc., specializing in one aspect of a larger industry.

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Key to Gold: SEAMEO College as Boutique Shop in Education

• Education policy and practice for low- and middle-income developing countries.

• Examples of success and failure worldwide. • Key indicators for education, with special emphasis

on developing countries – Cost-effectiveness – Vocational education – Use of IT and learning innovations – Institutional rating, etc.

• Annual SESAME Conference to bring stakeholders together.

Best wishes for the success of

SEAMEO College