Tomorrow today; 2010 - unesdoc - Unesco

Image: SEAMEO RIHEDThe third meeting of the MIT Student Mobility Programme: International relations officer meeting, 7-9 December 2009, Jakarta, IndonesiaSoutheast Asia Credit Transfer SystemAt the recent Southeast Asia Policy Forum on the Regional CreditTransfer 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 policymakingin the region. The resulting principles of the SEA-CTSstructure are to be tabled for discussion at the fifth Meeting ofDirectors-General/Secretaries-General/ Commissioners responsiblefor Higher Education in Southeast Asia in 2011. 5 This mechanismis expected to enhance the future comparability of different studyprogrammes and HE systems. The success of the credit conversionsystem and comparable HE systems will help embed the commondirection and shared goals of SD into the Southeast Asian HE system.Leadership development programmeThe Higher Education Leadership Academy of Malaysia (AKEPT)put a leadership development programme into action by launchingseveral pilot executive development courses in 2010. This is a keyendeavour to invest in human resources in the HE field, supplementingstrategies to build human capacity, the essential elementfor promoting HESD.E-learning and mobile learning programmeWith the aim of facilitating quality assurance and student mobility,the Indonesian Ministry of National Education and the SoutheastAsian Ministers of Education Organization Regional Open LearningCenter (SEAMOLEC) have implemented an e-learning and mobilelearning programme. The project is designed to focus on collectingdigital content in the five study areas that are the focus of theM-I-T Student Mobility Pilot Project: agriculture, language/culture,hospitality and tourism, international business and food science andtechnology. The aim is to ensure and further promote massive accessibilityto HE and lifelong learning.ASEAN research clustersThe Office of Higher Education Commission of Thailand andSEAMEO RIHED have realized the necessity to set up a three-yearroadmap for promoting research clusters in the Southeast Asianregion. 6 The roadmap will focus on building up the keyplatforms for Southeast Asia Research Clusters, includingresearch assessment exercises, research publicationsand possible establishment of an ASEAN CitationIndex, as well as academic research clusters. The clustersare perceived to create long-term regional researchdevelopment and absolutely sustainable developmentin the sense that they will engage various stakeholdersand researchers in all related fields to identify regionalproblems. The expected outcomes are innovation andimproved knowledge of SD prospects.Reflection on the past and future of HESDTo rally for the promotion of HESD in SEA, strongawareness must be raised at every level and sector inall regions. Willingness and commitment to developa regional policy framework of HESD is essential. Asthere is no established universal definition of SD, noris there a universal model of ESD, 7 a regional HESDframework should be designed, based upon sharedgoals and general consensus on the principles of SDand local contexts and priorities. In ASEAN, a specialemphasis has been placed on sustainable economicdevelopment; however, the economic dimensionhas to be supported by the ecological and socialdimensions. What has happened in practical termsin ASEAN societies is that the paradigm has shiftedand focused on two of the three dimensions – theecological and the economic. Industries, in collaborationwith scientists, put particular emphasis onlocal environmental safeguards. Strengthening thereciprocity of HE and SD will mutually benefit theultimate shared goals of both entities. The new routethat SEAMEO RIHED endeavours to create for the HEsystem in SEA is based on a holistic and interdisciplinaryapproach, aiming to develop not only absoluteknowledge, but also the proper skills, values andbehaviours needed for sustainable regions.[ 68 ]