Southeast Asian education ministries are supportive for the adoption of a common educational standard for Southeast Asians schools and the inclusion of climate change lessons in a common curriculum and are pushing intensely for the same. The ministers are currently meeting at the Shangri-La's Mactan Island Resort and Spa in Cebu for the 45th Southeast Asia Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Council Conference and the 5th Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Education Ministers Summit. The emphasis regarding the above was underlined by Education Secretary Jesli Lapus, who assumed last Wednesday the Presidency of SEAMEO, to adopt a common curriculum. At the same time, he hinted at the possibility of the ASEAN adopting a common currency, to unite Asian nations in the face of global competition.
SEAMEO is an international and regional intergovernmental organization whose members are Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao Peoples Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam. It has 19 specialist Regional Centres in Southeast Asia. The ten collaborative projects of the SEAMEO Member States hold high importance amongst the points on the agenda. These projects are designed to provide education in the underserved communities in the region, integration of climate change in the school curriculum, harmonization of higher education in Southeast Asia, building capacity on maximizing the use of language in teaching, integration of ICT in teaching and learning, and so on.
