TRENDS AND DIRECTIONS OF EDUCATION IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

MARK GAPULTOS, Ph.D., DRDM, CSEEInternational Civil Servant

Training and Development Professional

Presentation Overview

Role of SEAMEO

Issues in Education

Trends and Solutions

SOUTHEAST ASIAN MINISTERS OF EDUCATION ORGANISATION

- Established in 1965

- has 11 member-countries:

Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor Leste, and Vietnam

Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation

Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organisation

- has 6 Associate member-countries: Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Spain, United Kingdom

- has three Affiliate Members: International Council for Open and Distance Education (Norway), University of Tsukuba (Japan), and British Council (UK)

- has 20 Regional Centres and Units

Our Location

SEAMEO Headquarters and Secretariat: Bangkok, Thailand

My Office: SEAMEO VOCTECH Regional Centre (Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam)

My Geographical Assignments: Indochinese Peninsula

Kingdom of Cambodia

Lao Peoples’ Democratic RepublicSocialist Republic of Viet Nam

A Glimpse of the Current Situation of Education

Across Countries

Issues and Problems in Education

Neighbors in Asia

South Korea: There is an unbalanced supplyand demand in the labor market byeducation attainment (KRIVET)

Japan: Universities are less active than theirEuropean counterparts in supportingstudents’ job searching activities (KRIVET)

Issues and Problems in Education

Taiwan: Stagnant, if not deteriorating, educationsystem that has not improved in quality andstructure of trade, and service industries havenot been upgraded rapidly enough to absorbhighly-educated workforce (KRIVET)

Neighbors in Asia

Issues and Problems in Education

China: Lack of close-linked education curriculum andlabor demand is one cause for youth unemployment.(KRIVET)

The urban youth are mostly engaged in secondaryor tertiary industries where the proportions of lowskilled jobs are high, not being able to sufficientlyprovide the youth with suitable jobs. (KRIVET)

Neighbors in Asia

Issues and Problems in Education

U.S.A. : Youth unemployment is caused byeconomic downturn and recession (KRIVET)

U.K. : It is job experience that counts. Lack ofexperiences is one problem of unemployment.(KRIVET)

Across the Pacific

Issues and Problems in Education

Germany : unemployment rate is very low; theirmajor strength is that education and training areindustry-demand-oriented; but has a problemwith young people from a migrant background,poor performers, and youth from regions withweak economic structures (KRIVET)

Across the Pacific

Challenges and Issues in Education

in Southeast Asia

Job Mismatch

Education for All

Women Employment

PWD Employment

Gender Bias

Access and

Equity

ARTICULATION

OF

COURSES

Vertical (Curriculum Congruence)

Horizontal(Subject Credits)

Over supply of HEI

graduates

Incongruence of School-Industry

OJT Reuirements

UNEMPLOYMENT

Knowledge Platform

Continuous Innovation

International Exposition

Research and Development

PRACTICE OF QUALITY

ASSURANCE AND MANAGEMENT

Lack of control in the proliferation

of commercialized

schools

Lack of standardization

Mythical dichotomy of

quality-quantity

Practice of Quality

Assuranceand

Management

Differences in Geo-political Structures

Relevancy of Curriculum

Continuous upgrading

Integration of HOT skills a with

employability skills plus entrep

Authentic Teaching and

Learning

The Three Pillarsof the

ASEAN Community

What is being done now?

The Social Dimensions of Development in ASEAN

ASEAN Secretariat ReportChiang Mai, Thailand, January 2014

Promote greater educational cooperation among ASEAN member states and strengthen

education within them:

1. To narrow the development gaps2. To prepare the youth for regional leadership3. To increase the competitiveness of people

Education in AEC

National Skills Framework for

Regional Recognition

DEVELOP

Greater Mobility of Students;

skilled workers

PROMOTE

Competency-based

occupational standards

SUPPORT

Regional cooperation

mechanisms to safeguard

professional standards

Holistic ApproachTo Education

Other Initiatives

ACCREDITATION process by which the curriculum is officially endorsed and approved

STANDARDIZATION process by which the institution is certified in the practice of quality assurance and

management

CERTIFICATION process by which recognized qualifications are issued to students after successfully completing competency-

based program