PRESS RELEASES

The 4th ASEAN Plus Three Senior Officials Meeting on Education

5 March 2014

SOM-ED+3 Meeting

EAS SOM-ED Meeting

   On 21 February 2014, the 4th ASEAN Plus Three (China, Japan and ROK) Senior Officials Meeting on Education (4th SOM-ED+3) was held in Bangkok, Thailand. The Japanese delegation was headed by Mr. Shigeharu KATO, Director-General for International Affairs of Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), and other delegation members including Osamu ARUGA, Director of Office for International Planning, Higher Education bureau of MEXT and officials from the MEXT and the Mission of Japan to ASEAN. From the ASEAN side, H.E. Prof. Ainun Na’im, Ph.D, Secretary-General of Ministry of Education and Culture of Indonesia, was the Chair of ASEAN+3, and other SOM-ED members and officials from the ASEAN Secretariat and the SEAMEO Secretariat attended the meeting. The representatives from China and ROK also attended the meeting.

   In the meeting, Japan explained that “the First Working Group on Mobility of Higher Education and Ensuring Quality Assurance of Higher Education among ASEAN Plus Three Countries”, which was established by Japan’s initiative, was held in Tokyo in September 2013 and the WG members confirmed to hold discussions on the formulation of the guidelines to promote student exchange with quality assurance. ASEAN side was much interested in the early formulation of the guidelines and appreciated Japan’s leadership on this matter. Then, ASEAN Plus Three countries updated their recent activities on the Plan of Action adopted at the 1st ASEAN Plus Three Education Ministerial Meeting (APT EMM) in July 2012.

   In addition, the 2nd East Asia Summit Senior Officials Meeting on Education (2nd EAS SOM-ED) meeting was held after the SOM-ED+3 meeting and participants exchanged views on various activities in the field of higher education among EAS member countries.

   The 2nd APT EMM and the 2nd EAS Education Ministerial Meeting will be held in Vientiane, Lao PRD in September 2014.