The Fourth ASEAN Plus Three Education Ministers Meeting (4th APT EMM) was held on 1 November 2018 in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar in conjunction with the Tenth ASEAN Education Ministers Meeting (10th ASED) and the Fourth East Asia Summit Education Ministers Meeting (4th EAS EMM).The Meeting was co-chaired by H.E. Dr Myo Thein Gyi, Union Minister of Education of the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and H.E. Mr. Satoshi Ashidate, Deputy Minister of Education, Culture,S ports, Science and Technology of Japan.
We congratulate the new chairmanship of Myanmar and Japan for the ASEAN Plus Three Education Ministers Meeting and look forward to stronger collaborations between ASEAN Member States and the People’s Republic of China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea as guided by the forthcoming ASEAN Plus Three Plan of Action on Education 2018–2025.
We note with satisfaction the achievements made in the implementation of the ASEAN Plus Three Plan of Action on Education 2010–2017 and welcome the progress in formulating future directions of cooperation made in the Workshop to Develop the ASEAN Plus Three Plan of Action on Education 2018–2025 held on 10–11 October 2018 in Tokyo. We look forward to the finalisation of the ASEAN Plus Three Plan of Action on Education 2018–2025, which will serve as an essential guide for the continued cooperation on education between ASEAN Member States and the People’s Republic of China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea. In this regard, we commend the commitments made by the ASEAN Plus Three countries to lead projects and activities proposed under the Plan of Action.
To ensure synergies among various ASEAN education cooperation frameworks, we emphasize the importance of substantial alignment between the work of the ASEAN Plus Three Plan of Action on Education 2018–2025 and the ASEAN Work Plan on Education 2016–2020.
We adopt the ASEAN Plus Three Guidelines on Student Exchange and Mobility and the ASEAN Plus Three Guidelines on Transcripts and Supplemental Documents for Academic Records of Exchange Students. Furthermore, we look forward to the efforts of the Working Group on Student Mobility and Quality Assurance of Higher Education among ASEAN Plus Three Countries in furthering the “Availability of Information Online to Promote Mobility of Higher Education in the APT Region.”
We further commend the progress made by Japan on programmes on higher education such as in the ASEAN University Network(AUN)/Southeast Asia Engineering Education Network (SEED-Net), youth exchanges, and capacity building such asthe Greater Mekong Sub-Region University Consortium project and EDU-Port Japan. We also note with satisfaction Japan’s efforts in promoting Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), including the conduct of the SEAMEO-Japan ESD Award.
We note with appreciation the report of the People’s Republic of China on strengthening platforms of educational exchanges, such as the China-ASEAN Education Cooperation Week (CAECW) and Lancang-Mekong Cooperation, as well as the provision of more scholarships by the Chinese government to students from ASEAN Member States.
Inspired by the Educational Action Plans of the New Southern Policy, we note with appreciation the report of the Republic of Korea on the continuation of the Korea-ASEAN Future Community for people, peace, and prosperity in the field of education. We further commend the progress made in higher education, e-learning cooperation and vocational education, such as through the Global Korea Scholarship (GKS), the ASEAN Cyber University (ACU) Project, and technical and vocational education and training outreach programmes.
We look forward to further collaborations with the ASEAN Plus Three Countries, AUN, and other relevant entities on initiatives such as the possible expansion of the CAMPUS Asia Program, the ACU Project Network, AUN/SEED-Net, as well as activities of the forthcoming ASEAN Plus Three Plan of Action on Education 2018–2025.
We further express our appreciation to Myanmar for the warm hospitality extended to the delegates and the excellent arrangements made in hosting the 4th APT EMM, as well as to the ASEAN Secretariat, for their valuable support to the Meeting.
We further noted that the 5th APT EMM will be hosted by the Philippines in 2020.
