Seameo contributes greatly to improving the quality of education with the Southeast Asian region
ABIGAIL CUALES LANCETA
Southeast Asia is home to more than 560 million people who speak 1,500 languages and are bound by diverse influences and colourful pasts.
Occasionally there is political strife in parts of the region, and there are constant economic struggles. However, the region continues to aim for excellence and to bring out its strengths and uniqueness for the rest of the world to see.
During four decades of service, Seameo has been promoting cooperation in education, and science and culture in Southeast Asia.
Unity of countries
Because no country can grow in isolation, Seameo was established as a chartered international and intergovernmental organisation in 1965.
Its mission is anchored on education as a fundamental human right. In all of the Southeast Asian nations, the promotion of quality and equity in education is a policy that is emphasized, regardless of the level of a country's development.
The existence of Seameo is essential for the nourishment and development of the capacities of teachers, educators and ministry of education personnel in the region, thereby upholding educational quality, scientific innovations, and the preservation and promotion of the rich cultures of Southeast Asia.
This process takes place through a network of 15 Seameo centres in the region, each focusing on a specific area of specialisation, such as science, maths, language, archaeology and fine arts, distance and open learning, agriculture, public health, and tropical medicine. Scholarships, research fellowships and training courses are provided through the 15 Seameo centres.
Responding to change
Seameo has seen how history unfolds in the region and how its efforts have changed the landscape of regional education. But the best is yet to come. Spurred by the impact of globalisation, there is a growing importance and demand for new knowledge, not only in Southeast Asia but everywhere else.
Seameo, as an experienced and dependable provider of human resource development projects in the region, keeps up with the rapid pace of development, the corresponding needs for capacity development and regional challenges.
True to its commitment, Seameo launches initiatives to contribute to, and to accelerate the attainment of, the Education For All goals and the Millennium Development goals that most nations are committed to achieving.
Through the years, Seameo has been at the centre of Southeast Asia's effort to promote cooperation and lifelong learning. This dedication is clearly mirrored in its logo - a scroll that bears a lighted lamp at the top that symbolises eternal learning; a picture of the sun, denoting life; and sunrays, representing the member countries - Brunei Darus-salam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao People's Democratic Republic, Malaysia, Burma, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste and Vietnam - all of which take pride in being referred to as "the Seameo countries".
With the support of the education ministries of the 11 countries, Seameo continues to expand its network of partners within and outside Southeast Asia, linking and networking with specialised agencies and organisations that have similar pursuits and interests.
A web beyond Asean Seameo collaborates with global organisations, such as Unesco, Unicef, UN-Habitat, the World Bank and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. It is also supported by its associate-member countries - Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway and Spain.The International Council for Open and Distance Education is an affiliate member.
The organisation's highest policy-making body is the Seameo Council, which comprises the 11 Southeast Asian education ministers. The Seameo secretariat is located in Bangkok, Thailand.
Seameo is tasked with unifying the educational activities among the vast diversity of cultures and languages in the many member-countries. As a consequence, Seameo is the tie that binds all its members into a cohesive unit.
For more information about Seameo, visit http://www.seameo.org , or email your comments to secretariat@seameo.org or call 02-391-0144.
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