5th High Officials Meeting on SEA-TVET

The 5^th High Officials Meeting on SEA-TVET brought together approximately 150 participants from the Southeast Asian Ministries of Education, related Ministries on Technical and Vocational Education and Training, and other related development agencies and partner under the topic of “Strengthening Efforts towards TVET 4.0”.

  1. Background

All Southeast Asian countries have positioned Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in the mainstream of education systems and setting it as a priority in their education agenda in view of the fact that this type of education plays an important role in the socio-economic development of a nation (Paryono, 2013).

TVET has been identified as one of the seven priority areas of SEAMEO Education Agenda for development in Southeast Asia, which were agreed at the Strategic Dialogue of Education Ministers (SDEM) meeting in September 2014.

In addition, the World Education Forum in 2015 announced the Incheon Declaration and Framework for Action by proposing the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4 – emphasizing the importance of TVET education - ‘by 2030, substantially increase the number of youth and adults who have relevant skills, including, technical and vocational skills, for employment, decent jobs and entrepreneurship.’               

The Southeast Asian countries have attempted to promote regional cooperation, harmonisation and internationalisation of TVET education in the region by actively participating in the following TVET High Officials Meeting since 2015.

• 1st High Officials Meeting on SEA-TVET with the theme “Working Together towards Harmonisation and Internationalisation of TVET in Southeast Asia,” hosted by the Office of the Vocational Education Commission, Ministry of Education, Thailand, on 23-26 August 2015, Chiangmai, Thailand.

• 2nd High Officials Meeting on SEA-TVET with the theme “Strengthening Efforts towards Harmonisation and Internationalisation of TVET in Southeast Asia”, hosted by the Department of Technical and Vocational Education, Ministry of Education and Culture, on 12-14 May 2016, Bali, Indonesia.

• 3rd High Officials Meeting on SEA-TVET with the theme “21^st Century TVET in Southeast Asia: Advancing Toward Harmonisation and Internationalisation”, hosted by the Ministry of Education, and the Government of Malaysia, on 23-25 May 2017, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

• 4th High Officials Meeting on SEA-TVET with the theme “Moving Together Towards TVET 4.0” was recently organised by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the Department of Education of the Philippines on 4-5 September 2018 at the Philippine International Convention Center, Manila, Philippines.

Since the 1^st High Officials on SEA-TVET organised in 2015, various new national and regional initiatives in TVET have been created and co-developed among the Southeast Asian countries, and Development Agencies with the purposes among others are to improve the quality of TVET, to promote partnerships among TVET institutions, to strengthen involvement of industries, to leverage capacity of TVET personnel, to harmonise TVET curriculum among participating countries, and to promote the mobility of skilled workers, teachers and students. Various activities have been organised at all levels of TVET personnel such as policy makers, TVET school/college leaders, researchers, teachers and students.   

At the High Official’s Round Table Meeting of the 4^th High Officials Meeting on SEA-TVET on 4 September 2018, Philippines, the High Officials proposed the Ministry of Education of Brunei Darussalam to host the 5^th High Officials Meeting on SEA-TVET in Brunei Darussalam in 2019.

2. Host Organisations 

• Ministry of Education of Brunei Darussalam
• Politeknik Brunei (PB)
• Institute of Brunei Technical Education (IBTE)
• International Affairs Unit (MoE)

Co-organisers

• Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO)
  • SEAMEO Secretariat
  • SEAMEO VOCTECH

3. Objectives of the 5^th HOM on SEA-TVET

General objectives of the 5^th HOM on SEA-TVET are as follows: 

1. To discuss the current situation of TVET collaboration during 2018-2019 and to identify the strategies to improve the regional cooperation and harmonisation for the region;  
2. To determine and plan for the regional directions and strategies to advance quality of TVET in Southeast Asian countries that may enhance the responsiveness of the member states and the region towards Industry 4.0; and       
3. To strengthen cooperation among the TVET Ministries/Departments and TVET development agencies among Southeast Asia and with other countries beyond Southeast Asian.

4. Meeting Venue and Schedule 

5. Theme: “Strengthening Efforts towards TVET 4.0”

This theme was selected considering the fast changing technology in industry both in manufacturing as well in service sector influenced by the Industrial Revolution 4.0. In Industry 4.0, there are some clear changes from traditional to a more modern industry which can be characterised by having more agile and automated, personalized and customized, dynamic and high return on capital with more direct and high intensity of relationship with client (Roland Berger, 2016). This technological trend has affected and will continue affecting the way TVET prepare the future workforce. The work force will be expected to possess new skills in the domain of information technology, data analytics, new technology solution etc. The importance of cognitive abilities and system skills over physical abilities is becoming more prevalence.

Due to the changes of skills set that TVET institutions must prepare for their graduates, TVET High Officials from SEAMEO member countries have started discussing and formulating new strategies in TVET in response to IR 4.0 that is now called as TVET 4.0. This has started last year in 2018 during the 4^th High Officials Meeting for SEA-TVET in Manila, Philippines with the theme “Moving Together Towards TVET 4.0”. For this year, MoE Brunei Darussalam is proposing the theme as a follow up from last year, “Strengthening Efforts towards TVET 4.0.”

6. Expected Outputs

The following reports from the agreements, suggestions and presentations should be developed from the meeting:

1. Regional policy recommendations, agreed by the TVET High Officials of Southeast Asian countries;    
2. Endorsement of regional initiatives for further implementation; and
3. Summary report/proceedings of the meeting.

7.Participants  

The 5^th High Officials Meeting on SEA-TVET is expected to bring together approximately 150 participants from the Southeast Asian Ministries of Education, related Ministries on Technical and Vocational Education and Training, and other related development agencies and partners. The participants will include as follows:

• Secretary Generals/Director Generals/Directors on TVET of Ministries of Education, Ministries of Labour and Training, Ministries of Science and Technology, Ministries of Higher Education and other related Ministries from the Southeast Asian countries.
   

  Brunei Darussalam:	Ministry of Education Ministry of Culture Youth and Sports Other related Ministries
  Cambodia:	Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training
  Indonesia:	Ministry of Education and Culture; Ministry of Research, Technology and Higher Education
  Lao PDR:	Ministry of Education and Sports
  Malaysia:	Ministry of Education Ministry of Human Resources
  Myanmar:	Ministry of Education
  Philippines:	Department of Education (DEPED) Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA)
  Singapore:	Ministry of Education Ministry of Manpower
  Thailand:	Ministry of Education Ministry of Labour
  Timor Leste:	Ministry of Education
  Vietnam:	Ministry of Education and Training (MoET); Ministry of Labour, Invalid and Social Affairs (MOLISA)

• Representatives from partner countries such as Germany, United Kingdom, Japan, China, and Korea.
• Representatives of related Development Agencies and Industries such as SEAMEO, ASEAN Secretariat, GIZ, UNESCO, ILO, ASEAN -China Centre, KOSEN (Japan), KRIVET (Korea).
• Representatives from industry such as Chambers of Commerce, Industry Associations, TVET Associations.       
• TVET policy makers and directors of TVET institutions and related Ministries from Brunei Darussalam and other countries