Declaration on Adult Education in ASEAN
WE, the Heads of State/Government of Brunei Darussalam, the Kingdom of Cambodia, the Republic of Indonesia, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Malaysia, the Union of Myanmar, the Republic of the Philippines, the Republic of Singapore, the Kingdom of Thailand and the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam, Member States of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), on the occasion of the 2021 Model ASEAN Summit on Adult Education in ASEAN via Video Conference, on 14th July 2021
ACKNOWLEDGING the significance of ASEAN’s role in collaboration to achieve a highly integrated and cohesive economy through developing adult education by providing free education, life skill, vocational skill, welfare, and digital literacy for future skilled labor mobility in the region;
RECALLING our commitment made in ASEAN Declaration on Human Resources Development for the Changing World of Work was adopted by the 36th ASEAN Summit (2020), Bangkok Declaration on Advancing Partnership in Education for 2030 agenda for sustainable development in ASEAN (2019), Vientiane Declaration On Transition From Informal Employment To Formal Employment Towards Decent Work Promotion in ASEAN (2016), Kuala Lumpur Declaration on Higher Education (2015), Kuala Lumpur Declaration on Higher Education on the Occasion of the 27th ASEAN Summit (2015);
DECLARING the ASEAN work plan on education 2016-2020, which aimed to support and implement the ASEAN Post-2015 Vision on Education, and strengthen, deepen and widen educational cooperation among the ASEAN member states, as well as the ASEAN Dialogue Partners by expanding the scope of education cooperation towards the development of a more coordinated, cohesive and coherent ASEAN position and its contribution to global education issues;
ADOPTING the ASEAN 5-Year Work Plan on Education (2011-2015), which addressed the importance of universal access to basic education of high quality provided by teachers who are well educated and able to teach knowledgeably about the history and heritage of their nation, the need for TVET to be responsive to economic needs, and for higher education to focus on delivering world class teaching, learning and research and identified four main priority areas and 20 specific programmes for implementation by 2015;
REAFFIRMING that one of the objectives of ASEAN Socio-Cultural Community
(ASCC) is to increase the participation and engagement of women, youth,
elderly, persons with disabilities, vulnerable and marginalized groups in the
productive workforce by enhancing their entrepreneurial skills, particularly to
improve their social well-being and contribute towards national development and
regional economic integration with the actions to establish an ASEAN Forum on
Youth Entrepreneurship by 2009, implement a women entrepreneurship network by
2010, and build an ASEAN network of experts on entrepreneurship to, among
others, conduct skills training for out-of-school youths, the elderly and
persons with disabilities by 2010;
DO HEREBY DECLARE OUR
COMMITMENT TO:
1. Encourage and strengthen regional cooperation and cross-border collaboration of higher education systems in ASEAN by offering more mobilities for adult learners and educators to obtain the new and advanced quality of knowledge and exchange good practical experiences, and establishing university partnerships to promote collaborative study and research programs on the priority areas identified by ASEAN and to develop academic and professional human resources in the region and transmit scientific and scholarly knowledge and information to achieve ASEAN goals;
2. Promote accessibility and broader participation so that women and men of different social, cultural, economic, educational and other backgrounds are included in adult education and that quality learning opportunities are accessible to all individuals, by developing effective educational responses which address accessibility, autonomy, equity as well as inclusion issues including:
A. establishing appropriate strategies to promote adults’ access to and participation in learning activities and to enhance incentives for them to undertake such activities,
B. tolerating no discrimination on any grounds, including age, gender, ethnicity, migrant status, religion, disability, illness, rurality, sexual identity or orientation, poverty, displacement, imprisonment, occupation or profession,
C. providing special attention and action to enhance access to quality learning for target disadvantaged groups such as individuals with low levels of, or no, literacy and numeracy and schooling, street children or vulnerable youths in a detention home, the workforce groups (industrial workforce, agriculture, general services, factories, migrant workers and the unemployed), the ethnic or indigenous groups, individuals with disability, prisoners, the elderly, people affected by conflict or disasters, refugees, stateless or displaced persons, and
D. addressing learners’ needs and aspirations with adult learning approaches that respect and reflect the diversity of learners’ languages and cultures, creating bridges that connect different groups and reinforce unity within communities;
3. Implement a federal direct student loan program to subsidize students especially the disadvantaged groups to pursue higher education to meet the labor market needs in ASEAN regions, giving students a better chance at a higher education level as education is the main driver of the social and economic development in all regions, enhancing their competitive capacity with other students at the higher education level, and reducing inequality in education and increasing human capitals in ASEAN regions;
4. Emphasize the digital literacy skill as a significant skill in opening ways for employability from regional to a global scale by adopting and promoting digital literacy skills in educational systems starting from upper secondary education to higher education by increasing the accessibility to the internet and technology devices such as Wi-Fi and computers, ensuring that students will have the capacity to understand and use information in multiple formats from a wide range of sources when it is presented via computers and other social media platforms, and guaranteeing an assertiveness of citizens who are capable of living, learning and working in a society where communication and information are shared through digital technology;
5. Implement harmonization of education systems in ASEAN to ensure comparable/similar education programs and activities providing to students in each country to respond to the skill demands in the region by establishing quality assurance guidelines through system assessment (planning, controlling & follow-up) to improve the education quality in the region, introducing the regional educational framework to provide a curriculum and learning outcomes that are consistent to the labor market, and implementing regional skills competition to support workforce development and to achieve regional standards competency;
6. Request that university courses and instructions be in line with ASEAN labor market demands, meaning that all member states can enhance their international efficiency by focusing more on soft skills in adult education such as cross-disciplinary outlooks, critical thinking, collective problem-solving, or any necessary and required skills and knowledge that meet the demands of the ASEAN market because these skills are very essential in today’s industry in our region, for they open doors for more employment opportunities to our peoples especially when engaging in cross-border commerce and investment, and also allow a better free flow of skilled labors in ASEAN which is one of the main objectives of the AEC;
7. Promote an expert mobility program named ‘ASEAN Professional Initiative’ for transferring ASEAN experts in the field of agriculture, technology, mechanics, masonry, carpentry, brewing, and cooking for 3 months, and the program is coordinated by ASEAN with the collaboration from the Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training of all ASEAN member states — this program is on a voluntary basis which means that the requested country can request ASEAN to coordinate experts in a specific skill from other ASEAN countries, and the requested country is responsible for funds, safety, accommodation and visa for experts
8. Encourage ASEAN member states to consider strengthening and improving mutual cooperative assistance by helping each other’s capacity in adult education, and sharing their experiences which require ASEAN member states to promote the regular exchange of information, documentation and resources on policies, concepts and practices, as well as relevant research, among adult learning and professional education at the national, regional and international levels; and
9. Provide special care and training not only to individuals who use technology devices to support their everyday lives and jobs but also to those who do not receive the same treatment and care, those who are still seeking help to access basic education facilities, and those who will most likely be denied access to education, technology skills, labor skills and professional skills.
Done via video conference, this fourteenth Day of July in the year Two Thousand and Twenty One.
Virtual Class, MS Team
