Southeast Asia leaders, UK experts examine education disruption

The Recover learning and rebuild education in the ASEAN region roundtable is co-hosted by the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat; the Ministry of Education and Training, Viet Nam; British Expertise International (BEI), Department for International Trade in the United Kingdom (DIT); and the Cambridge Partnership for Education. 

Following the event, the ASEAN Secretariat and Cambridge will publish a policy brief to share recommendations arising from the discussion.

Two years after COVID-19 related school closures first affected the quality of education for more than 152 million children in Southeast Asia, Ministers of Education and representatives from Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam will discuss:

• Learning loss and accelerated learning 
• Access to education 
• Building resilience in education systems. 

Sir Steve Smith, the UK government’s international education champion, will open the event. Education Development Trust, Palladium and Cambridge Education Mott Macdonald, members of the BEI Education Working Group, will support panel discussions.

His Excellency Dr. Nguyen Kim Son, Minister of Education & Training, Viet Nam, shared how “We have been working hard to build a more responsive and resilient education system… To that end, this conference with the theme: ‘recover learning and rebuild education in the ASEAN region’ is convened at a right time and of special significance.”

According to Jane Mann, Managing Director, Cambridge Partnership for Education, “COVID-19 was not the first time that Southeast Asia had to handle education disruption, and in many cases governments and communities have responded to this pandemic with speed and strength. We know that school closures have escalated existing education challenges – such as the learning divide - but, we now have an opportunity to escalate our efforts, too. 

We must harness current momentum to focus on effective long-term reforms that help achieve the sustainable development agenda. Our roundtable will explore how we can create cross-regional partnerships to build quality, effective and resilient education systems that work for all children.”

Secretary-General of ASEAN, Dato Lim Jock Hoi also highlighted that in going forward, the blending of digital technologies with traditional offline approaches to learning would be critical. He said, “It is key for the ASEAN education sector to strike a balance between the appropriate use of digital learning, while retaining the best features of traditional education.”

This roundtable will build on the BEI Education Working Group briefing paper: Recover Learning, Rebuild Education published last year to outline sustainable, systemic interventions to respond to COVID-19 education challenges.

Click here to read more about all our event partners. 

This article was first published on the website of event co-hosts the ASEAN Secretariat.