Two annual conferences of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization, the 45th SEAMEO Council Conference (SEAMEC) and the 5th ASEAN Meeting of Ministers of Education (ASED), are being hosted by the Philippines at the Shangri-La Hotel in Cebu on January 26-29. The aim of the back-to-back conferences is to foster stronger cooperation on education among Southeast Asian countries and beyond. The 10 collaborative projects of the SEAMEO member states that aim at providing education to the poorly-served communities in the region, have been given the top priority in the agenda. Additionally, the objective of the conferences is to address the issues related to 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 strengthening visibility of SEAMEO, among others. The Department of Education (DepEd) said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will grace the opening ceremony as the guest of honor on January 27.
