3. ASEAN was formulated because of
changing global conditions and founding
Member States’ commitments to
strengthening connections among their
nations in order to promote peace,
stability, and prosperity of communities
and people within their nations and
throughout the region.
4. Creating and maintaining an
effective regional organization
requires its members to work together
to build consensus. Complexities can
arise, but members can work together
to weigh and discuss issues in order
to minimize difficulties.
5. When people and nations
cooperate, they can overcome
obstacles and create opportunities
for themselves. Regional cooperation
comes in many forms and can
change the lives of people across
ASEAN.
6. For ASEAN countries, education is
core to development and contributes to
the enhancement of ASEAN
competitiveness.
In fact, the ASEAN Charter,
launched in 2007, clearly emphasizes
the strategic importance of closer
cooperation in education and human
resource development among ASEAN
member countries.
7. The critical role of education in
promoting ASEAN social and
economic development and the
building of a strong ASEAN
community has also been widely
recognized and repeatedly
confirmed at various high‐level
policy dialogues and in policy
documents.
8. ASEAN+6, which includes the
addition of Australia, China, India,
Japan, New Zealand and the Republic of
Korea to the ASEAN mix, is a regional
cooperation framework aiming to
accelerate economic growth in East
Asia and promote cooperation in areas
vital to this growth.
9. By comparison, analysis provides
greater scope for understanding why
an education system performs better
in one country than in another. At the
same time, comparison also provides
solid evidence and thus practical
lessons to help improve education
system performance.
11. Education is a key way for the
ASEAN’s citizenry to become aware
of the many connections that bind
them, and to endow them with the
skills they need to effectively build a
better future across the region.
12. Education must empower young
people so that they can not only
adapt and respond to their fast-
changing world, but also participate
actively in shaping a better future for
themselves, their families and
communities, and for the ASEAN
region as a whole.
Editor's Notes
Education policies can play a critical role in transforming the education landscape and outcomes of learning. A prominent feature of the successful educational transformation in many countries is that policy reform efforts and programmes are guided by a clear goal or vision, and implemented through a coherent planning, management and monitoring process. Policies and programmes need to address all of the components of the system in a coordinated and coherent way so that changes, in turn, become mutually reinforcing and promote continuous improvement.
Let us first briefly explore ASEAN’s structure, membership, purpose, and approaches to global issues. It provides general information on the ASEAN Community concept, aspirations, pillars, plans, and processes. Moreover, it analyzes ASEAN’s significance, accomplishments, and future challenges. Countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) 1 , despite differences in political systems, ideologies, historical background, development priorities and education structures, share a common vision for an ASEAN community.
In this regard, one notable regional initiative is the move towards a shared regional qualifications framework, which aims to promote the recognition of qualifications and quality assurance in the provision of education.
This cooperation is beneficial not only to its members but also other countries of the Asia–Pacific region. Examination of education systems in ASEAN+6 countries reveals a combination of generally high performing systems (e.g. Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore) and systems where substantial improvement may be needed (e.g. Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar).
it is important to examine the policies in any given education system, the ways in which they interact and impact upon system performance and other underlying factors that may inhibit or strengthen established policies.
The report outlines the features of ASEAN+6 country education systems in the context of on‐going discussion on policy options for education development and reform in these countries. In particular, it highlights the key issues, challenges and opportunities for improving system performance and reducing disparities across ASEAN+6 countries with a focus on sector planning and management, secondary education and technical and vocational education and training (TVET), areas of critical importance in formulating and operationalizing the education reform agenda in most of these countries.
For this purpose, ASEAN calls on Member States to come together to ensure that their young citizens in the classrooms learn about the interconnectedness among cultures, peoples, economies, governments, and ecosystems, and how these are linked to their own lives. It further urges Member States to also build students’ 21st century knowledge and skills, such as problem-solving, critical thinking, innovation, cross-cultural communication, collaboration, and media as well as IT literacy.
Toward this goal, ASEAN supports a more concerted approach toward regional coordination of ASEAN-related education among its members at the primary and secondary levels to help the region realize its broad goal of a people-centered, socially responsible, unified, and harmonious ASEAN.
