ASEAN plans forum for 'neglected' education
ASEAN plans forum for 'neglected' education
Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Bangkok
Education ministers in the region are planning to form a forum
to discuss education as a part of concerted efforts to make the
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) a more integrated
society.
"Education is still one of the neglected fields in cooperation
among ASEAN nations, together with defense and women's issues,"
Minister of National Education Bambang Sudibyo told Indonesian
students at the Indonesian Embassy in Bangkok on Saturday
morning.
"ASEAN has been reluctant to display its geopolitical face
with defense issues, thus fostering cooperation in economic
fields. But I believe sooner or later there will also be a
defense pact of some sort," he added.
Bambang was in Bangkok for Friday's first-ever meeting of
ASEAN education ministers -- minus Myanmar -- to start a regional
forum. He said the meeting as "more of an informal retreat
without a clear agenda yet."
The minister pointed out that in the October 2003 summit in
Bali ASEAN leaders had agreed on three pillars of a more
integrated, solid ASEAN community: the ASEAN Economic Community
(AEC), the ASEAN Security Community (ASC), and the ASEAN Socio-
Cultural Community (ASCC).
Currently, there is already an annual meeting within the
Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO)
which also includes seven associate members of Australia, Canada,
France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Norway as well
Japan as a donor country in addition to the 10 ASEAN members.
According to an Indonesian diplomat who joined the meeting,
there were concerns that the new forum would overlap with
existing cooperation within SEAMEO.
The ministers agreed that the ASEAN meeting would be done
back-to-back with the SEAMEO meeting.
The next SEAMEO meeting is scheduled to be held in Singapore
next March.
The ministers outlined on Friday initial plans to promote the
role of education in building a strong regional community. They
discussed various regional education topics in the day-long
informal retreat at the Four Seasons Hotel in Bangkok.
"We discussed strategies for strengthening ASEAN identity
through education," Thai Minister of Education Chaturon Chaisang,
chairman of the meeting told a press conference afterwards, as
reported by The Nation newspaper on Saturday.
Chaturon noted that the ministers had agreed that such
strategies would involve an ASEAN identity while ensuring that
our peoples are prepared for globalization and technological
advancement.
Other strategies included identifying ASEAN's international
niche, enriching the ASEAN brand for education, and promoting
ASEAN studies to enhance multicultural and multireligious
understanding among the group's peoples, he added.
Exchanges among teachers, staff and students in the region
will also be an integral part of the capacity-building process of
the region's human resources. Development in English, mathematics
and science will be the key areas for such cooperation, said
Chaturon.
ASEAN Secretary-General Ong Keng Yong said the ministers
planned to put together information about the social and cultural
characteristics of each member country that would be posted on
websites for student school projects and that later they would
develop textbooks and learning materials to promote better
understanding among ASEAN citizens.