Yang Mulia Datin Seri Paduka Dr. Hajah Romaizah binti Haji Mohd Salleh, Acting Minister of Education attended the opening ceremony of the 51st Southeast Asia Ministers of Education Organisation (SEAMEO) Council Conference held virtually today. The SEAMEO Council Conference (SEAMEC) is a biennial meeting of education ministers from Southeast Asian countries and is the highest policy-making body of SEAMEO.
This year's conference is attended by ministers from Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines and Vietnam while Thailand was represented by its Deputy Minister. In addition, SEAMEO Associate members from Australia and Spain; SEAMEO Affiliate members (University of Tsukuba, the British Council and Asia Pacific Centre of Education for International Understanding) were also in attendance.
This year's conference saw the outgoing president of the SEAMEO Council, Dato Radzi Jidin, Senior Minister of Education Malaysia hand over the SEAMEC Presidency to His Excellency Mr Chan Chun Sing, Minister of Education Singapore. Her Excellency Prof. Leonor Magtolis Briones, Secretary of Education, Department of Education of the Philippines was appointed as the Vice-President of the 51st SEAMEO Council. Both appointments is for a two-year term. The Conference also saw the presentation of SEAMEO Affiliate Membership certificate to British Columbia Council of International Education (BCCIE) of Canada.
As part of the conference programme, the SEAMEO Ministers had an opportunity to engage in a strategic dialogue which serves as a platform to share country practices, review priority areas and agree on general directions that SEAMEO should take. This year, the strategic dialogue is focused on two themes 1) Preparing Future Ready Learners and 2) Education as an Uplifting Force. Yang Mulia Datin Dr. had an opportunity to share her insights during sub-theme one. In her address, Yang Mulia Datin Dr. highlighted the importance of acquiring digital skills especially among teachers and students. Emphasis was also placed on character building as one of the most important elements in our education system. YM Datin Dr. also emphasied in her presentation the important role of SEAMEO as one of the platforms where member countries, associate members and affiliate members could come together to support education institutions within the ASEAN region to continue to improve their efforts in developing our students' well being and resilience during and especially a pandemic.
The 51st SEAMEC also saw the launching of the SEAMEO Strategic Plan 2021-2030 which outlines the goals, strategic themes as well as priority areas in education, science and culture for the next ten years. The 51st SEAMEC also saw the presentation of various SEAMEO Awards such as the SEAMEO-Japan ESD Award, SEAMEO-Australia Education Links Award and SEAMEO Service Award.
Also present was Dr. Shamsiah Zuraini Kanchanawati binti Haji Tajuddin, the Permanent Secretary (Core Education) and officials from the Ministry of Education.
____________________________________________________________________
Persidangan Majlis Pertubuhan Menteri-Menteri Pendidikan Asia Tenggara kali ke-51 (Persidangan Majlis SEAMEO) telah diadakan secara maya pada hari ini. Persidangan tersebut telahpun dihadiri oleh Yang Mulia Datin Seri Paduka Dr. Hajah Romaizah binti Haji Mohd. Salleh, Pemangku Menteri Pendidikan, Negara Brunei Darussalam. Persidangan Majlis SEAMEO merupakan mesyuarat bagi Menteri-Menteri dari negara-negara ahli SEAMEO yang diadakan setiap dua tahun sekali. Ianya juga merupakan badan pembuat keputusan tertinggi SEAMEO yang menentukan dasar-dasar umum dan hala tuju strategik pertubuhan tersebut.
Persidangan berkenaan turut dihadiri oleh Menteri-Menteri Pendidikan dari negara-negara ahli SEAMEO seperti Kemboja, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Filipina, Singapura dan Vietnam manakala Thailand dihadiri oleh Timbalan Menteri Pendidikan. Wakil daripada negara-negara ahli bergabung SEAMEO dan ahli-ahli bersekutu SEAMEO juga menghadiri persidangan tersebut.
Persidangan tahun ini menyaksikan penyerahan jawatan Presiden Majlis SEAMEO daripada Dr. Radzi bin Jidin, Menteri Kanan Pendidikan, kepada Tuan Chan Chun Sing, Menteri Pendidikan Singapura. Sementara itu Prof. Leonor Magtolis Briones, Sekretari Pendidikan Filipina dilantik menjadi Naib Presiden. Kedua-dua lantikan adalah untuk tempoh dua (2) tahun. Di samping itu, Persidangan Majlis SEAMEO kali ke-51 ini menyaksikan penyerahan keahlian bersekutu SEAMEO kepada British Columbia Council for International Education (BCCIE) dari Kanada.
Sebagai sebahagian daripada program persidangan, para Menteri SEAMEO berkesempatan untuk terlibat dalam dialog strategik yang berfungsi sebagai platform untuk berkongsi amalan negara, meninjau bidang keutamaan dan mempersetujui hala tuju yang harus diambil SEAMEO. Pada tahun ini, dialog strategik terbahagi kepada dua sesi yang merangkumi dua tema 1) Preparing Future Ready Learners dan 2) Education as an Uplifting Force. Yang Mulia Pemangku Menteri Pendidikan menyertai sesi tema pertama di mana beliau menegaskan kepentingan kemahiran digital bagi tenaga pengajar dan pelajar. Penekanan juga diberikan pada pembentukan karakter sebagai salah satu elemen terpenting dalam sistem pendidikan kita. Dalam pembentangannya, YM Datin Dr. juga menekankan mengenai peranan penting SEAMEO sebagai salah satu platform di mana negara-negara anggota, anggota bersekutu dan anggota bergabung SEAMEO dapat berkumpul untuk menyokong institusi pendidikan di rantau ASEAN agar terus meningkatkan usaha dalam mengembangkan kesejahteraan dan ketahanan para pelajar semasa dan pasca pandemik.
Persidangan tersebut juga menyaksikan pelancaran Rancangan Strategik SEAMEO bagi tahun 2021-2030 yang menggariskan matlamat, tema strategik dan juga bidang keutamaan dalam pendidikan, sains dan budaya bagi sepuluh tahun akan datang. Persidangan kali ini juga menyaksikan penyampaian pelbagai anugerah SEAMEO seperti SEAMEO-Japan ESD Award, SEAMEO-Australia Education Links Award dan SEAMEO Service Award.
Turut hadir semasa persidangan berkenaan adalah Yang Mulia Dr. Shamsiah Zuraini Kanchanawati binti Haji Tajuddin, Setiausaha Tetap (Pendidikan Teras) beserta pegawai-pegawai daripada Kementerian Pendidikan Negara Brunei Darussalam.
