Thursday, 1 December 2022
Bangkok – Yang Mulia Dr. Shamsiah Zuraini Kanchanawati binti Haji Tajuddin, the Permanent
Secretary (Core Education) of the Ministry of Education has attended the 45th Southeast Asian
Ministers of Education Organization High Officials Meeting (45th SEAMEO HOM) that was held
from 28 to 30 November 2022 in Bangkok, Thailand.
The meeting was officiated by His Excellency Dr. Atthaphon Sangkhawasee, Permanent
Secretary, Ministry of Education, Thailand on behalf of the Her Excellency Treenuch Thienthong,
Minister of Education, Thailand. In his opening speech, he commended SEAMEO on carrying out
its activities under the 7 SEAMEO priority areas and activities addressing the United Nations
Sustainable Development Goals. He also added that the Ministry of Education Thailand places
great emphasis on 21st century skills and ethical values among others, and will continue to ensure
that no one will be left behind. This years’ Plenary Session was chaired by His Excellency Atty.
Gerard L. Chan, Undersecretary, Legislative Affairs and Partnerships, Department of Education,
Republic of the Philippines whilst Yang Mulia Dr. Shamsiah Zuraini Kanchanawati binti Haji
Tajuddin was appointed as the Vice-Chair.
The meeting began with an In-Camera Session and followed by a Plenary Session. Matters under
discussion included reports on financial matters of the SEAMEO Secretariat and proposed Five-
Year Development Plans of a number of SEAMEO Regional Centres, as well as proposals and
reports of projects/programmes under SEAMEO where decisions were made to endorse several
proposals to be presented at the next SEAMEO Council Conference.
During the meeting, each SEAMEO Member Country also had the opportunity to share their
progress and development in addressing the ‘SEAMEO 7 Priority Areas Implementation’ in their
countries. These 7 Priority Areas are: (1) Early Childhood Care and Education; (2) Addressing
Barriers to Inclusion; (3) Resiliency in the Face of Emergencies; (4) Promoting Technical and Vocational Education and Training; (5) Teacher Education; (6) Harmonisation in Higher Education
and Research; and (7) Adopting a 21st Century Curriculum. During this session, Yang Mulia
Permanent Secretary (Core Education) highlighted a number of initiatives implemented in Brunei
Darussalam to ensure equal and equitable access to education for students to achieve their
fullest potential which include among others, the establishment of the Learning Support Team
and Learning Recovery Team as well as the launch of the Brunei Darussalam Learning Support
Guidebook. She also shared the initiatives undertaken to update and enhance the curriculum of
a number of subjects such as English Language, Mathematics, Science, Malay Language,
Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and Finance to ensuring relevancy with 21st
Century needs.