SEAMEO VOCTECH advances Evidence-Based Framework for Greening TVET Across the Region

BRUNEI. SEAMEO VOCTECH (08 June 2026) - SEAMEO VOCTECH Regional Centre, in collaboration with GIZ-RECOTwin, successfully concluded the Hybrid Regional Training Programme on Design Thinking–Based Mixed-Methods Research for Implementing the Greening Education Readiness Index (GERI) in TVET. The Closing Ceremony of the training was held on Saturday, 6 June 2026, at Dewan Seri Kerna, SEAMEO VOCTECH, Brunei Darussalam.

The Closing Ceremony was graced by Guest of Honour, Yang Mulia Dr Haji Azman bin Ahmad, Permanent Secretary (Higher Education), Ministry of Education, Brunei Darussalam. In his address, he highlighted that the GERI is timely and highly relevant, noting that it moves beyond measuring isolated activities to provide a comprehensive framework for understanding institutional readiness across multiple dimensions, including curriculum, teacher development, campus operations, governance, partnerships, and community engagement. He also noted that GERI offers an important mechanism to support the implementation of Brunei Darussalam’s Greening Education Plan (GEP) 2025–2035 and encouraged participants to continue the momentum generated by the training upon returning to their respective countries.

In his closing remarks, Director of SEAMEO VOCTECH, Mr Haji Norjemee bin Jenek, underscored that the programme goes beyond capacity building, marking an important step towards the implementation of a regional study under the ASEAN TVET Council agenda. He extended appreciation to GIZ-RECOTwin for its continued partnership, and to the facilitators and participants for their commitment to advancing evidence-based approaches for greening TVET across the region.

Course Coordinator Dr Paryono, Deputy Director for Professional Affairs and Research Manager at SEAMEO VOCTECH, reflected on the richness of the collaborative learning experience, noting that participants engaged with greening challenges across ASEAN, reviewed and refined the GERI framework, developed national implementation plans, and examined mixed-methods data collection strategies. Dr Paryono shared that the next phase will involve data collection across participating countries and the preparation of national and regional GERI reports, with a country report presentation anticipated around October 2026.

The training programme was conducted in a hybrid format, comprising 3-day online sessions from 25, 26 and 29 May 2026 and hybrid sessions from 2 to 6 June 2026. The training consisted of 31 participants from all 11 SEAMEO/ASEAN Member Countries, including representatives from ministries of education, TVET institutions, and relevant government agencies. As the host country, Brunei Darussalam was represented by five participants.

GERI is a structured framework developed by SEAMEO VOCTECH and Dr Margarita Pavlova with GIZ-RECOTwin support to assess TVET institutions’ readiness across key greening education domains. The programme applied Design Thinking as an overarching research logic to support its finalisation and implementation, where participants refined the framework and tools, designed national research implementation plans, and prepared for post-training data collection and reporting as part of a broader regional ASEAN study.

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