Press Release
SEAMEO Centre Directors Meeting 2021: Reimagine the Future, 21 July 2021
21 July 2021 – In response to the COVID-19 challenges in 2021, the annual SEAMEO Centre Directors Meeting (CDM) 2021 was virtually conducted on 21 July 2021. The meeting was organised back to back with the 9th SEAMEO Integrated Operation Plan (SIOP) Worskhop on 22 July 2021.
The SEAMEO CDM serves as a platform for the Centre Directors and Senior Officers of 26 SEAMEO Regional Centres/Network to share and discuss regional development programmes and work plans for improving education, science, and culture for the Southeast Asian region. The meeting is also a venue for expanding the developmental programmes with new partners and strengthening the existing partnerships.
The SEAMEO CDM 2021 is participated by approximately 220 participants, consisting of Centre Directors and Senior Officers from 26 SEAMEO Regional Centres/Network, one Associate Member Country, one Affiliate Member, and 21 partner organisations who are UN agencies, governmental organisations, development agencies, universities, and enterprises.
A total of 32 Working Papers, 12 from SEAMEO Secretariat and 20 from SEAMEO Centres/Network, were presented through ad-referendum. The highlighted working papers of SEAMEO Secretariat are such as Report on SEAMEO COVID-19 Accessible and Responsive Education Support (SEAMEO CARES), SEAMEO-UNESCO-GPE Collaboration: Online Course for Teachers of Learners with Disabilities, and SEAMEO Inter-Centre Collaboration Programmes.
The working papers of SEAMEO Regional Centres cover various areas of development such as Language Education; TVET; History Education; Science, Mathematics and STEM Education; Early Childhood Care Education and Parenting; Museum Architecture; Educational Leadership and Management; Health Education; Adult Education; Higher Education; Education Innovation Award; Community Education Development; Agricultural and Rural Innovation; South-East Asian Sales Competition; and Sufficiency Economy and Sustainability.
For SEAMEO RIHED, our working paper highlighted the Centre’s Strategic Engagement in Higher Education and Development and 6th Five-Year Development Plan, which covers the period of July 2022 to June 2026. The new Plan marks a strategic shift for SEAMEO RIHED towards enhancing higher education for the sustainable future of Southeast Asia and will function as a guideline and benchmark for the development of the Centre into an inclusive learning organisation and leading partner in higher education committed to sustainable development. SEAMEO RIHED also intends to work in more effective and efficient ways to ensure progress towards a new common space in higher education for the region. Our key priorities going forward, which align with the SEAMEO Education Agenda and the Agenda for Sustainable Development, form four thematic areas that shape the focus of our work for the SEAMEO Region, including policy dialogue, leadership, mobility and linkages and knowledge maximisation.
One of the highlights of 2021 CDM was the Sharing Session by the Key Partners on the topic ‘Reimagine the Future’, presented by UNESCO Asia Pacific Regional Bureau for Education, UNICEF EAPRO, International Task Force on Teachers for Education 2030, ASEAN Secretariat, and the Institute for the Promotion of Teaching Science and Technology (Thailand).
The sharing session is followed by the Marketplace or Networking Session with 21 partners who agree to present the proposed programmes and collaboration to the SEAMEO Regional Centres. The 26 SEAMEO Centres/Networks are encouraged to actively discuss and explore collaborative programmes with the invited partner institutions via 21 virtual meeting rooms. The details of the discussion and prospective collaborations among SEAMEO Units, and partners are presented after the Networking Session.
On the following day of 22 July 2021, the Workshop on the 9th SEAMEO Integrated Operation Plan (SIOP) is conducted with the SEAMEO Regional Centres to discuss and finalise the SEAMEO Integrated Operational Plan for FY 2021/2022 to 2025/2026, aligned with the SEAMEO Strategic Plan 2021-2030.
The next SEAMEO CDM will be organised in July 2022.
