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Southeast Asia Credit Transfer System
At the recent Southeast Asia Policy Forum on the Regional Credit
Transfer System, held by SEAMEO RIHED in Thailand in June 2010,
the necessity to develop the Southeast Asian Credit Transfer System
(SEA-CTS) was raised among senior officers responsible for policy-
making in the region. The resulting principles of the SEA-CTS
structure are to be tabled for discussion at the fifth Meeting of
Directors-General/Secretaries-General/ Commissioners responsible
for Higher Education in Southeast Asia in 2011.
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This mechanism
is expected to enhance the future comparability of different study
programmes and HE systems. The success of the credit conversion
system and comparable HE systems will help embed the common
direction and shared goals of SD into the Southeast Asian HE system.
Leadership development programme
The Higher Education Leadership Academy of Malaysia (AKEPT)
put a leadership development programme into action by launching
several pilot executive development courses in 2010. This is a key
endeavour to invest in human resources in the HE field, supple-
menting strategies to build human capacity, the essential element
for promoting HESD.
E-learning and mobile learning programme
With the aim of facilitating quality assurance and student mobility,
the Indonesian Ministry of National Education and the Southeast
Asian Ministers of Education Organization Regional Open Learning
Center (SEAMOLEC) have implemented an e-learning and mobile
learning programme. The project is designed to focus on collect-
ing digital content in the five study areas that are the focus of the
M-I-T Student Mobility Pilot Project: agriculture, language/culture,
hospitality and tourism, international business and food science and
technology. The aim is to ensure and further promote massive acces-
sibility to HE and lifelong learning.
ASEAN research clusters
The Office of Higher Education Commission of Thailand and
SEAMEO RIHED have realized the necessity to set up a three-year
roadmap for promoting research clusters in the Southeast Asian
region.
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The roadmap will focus on building up the key
platforms for Southeast Asia Research Clusters, includ-
ing research assessment exercises, research publications
and possible establishment of an ASEAN Citation
Index, as well as academic research clusters. The clus-
ters are perceived to create long-term regional research
development and absolutely sustainable development
in the sense that they will engage various stakeholders
and researchers in all related fields to identify regional
problems. The expected outcomes are innovation and
improved knowledge of SD prospects.
Reflection on the past and future of HESD
To rally for the promotion of HESD in SEA, strong
awareness must be raised at every level and sector in
all regions. Willingness and commitment to develop
a regional policy framework of HESD is essential. As
there is no established universal definition of SD, nor
is there a universal model of ESD,
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a regional HESD
framework should be designed, based upon shared
goals and general consensus on the principles of SD
and local contexts and priorities. In ASEAN, a special
emphasis has been placed on sustainable economic
development; however, the economic dimension
has to be supported by the ecological and social
dimensions. What has happened in practical terms
in ASEAN societies is that the paradigm has shifted
and focused on two of the three dimensions – the
ecological and the economic. Industries, in collab-
oration with scientists, put particular emphasis on
local environmental safeguards. Strengthening the
reciprocity of HE and SD will mutually benefit the
ultimate shared goals of both entities. The new route
that SEAMEO RIHED endeavours to create for the HE
system in SEA is based on a holistic and interdiscipli-
nary approach, aiming to develop not only absolute
knowledge, but also the proper skills, values and
behaviours needed for sustainable regions.
The third meeting of the MIT Student Mobility Programme: International relations officer meeting, 7-9 December 2009, Jakarta, Indonesia
Image: SEAMEO RIHED