PUTRAJAYA: The ASEAN Higher Education Ministers’ Roundtable: Envisioning the Next Decade and Beyond will be held in Langkawi on June 19, and is expected to outline a new direction for regional higher education, said Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir.
He said the roundtable would be one of the main events under the ASEAN Ministers of Education and Higher Education Roundtables (#EduRoundtables2025) and Events, which will take place on the resort island from June 17 to 19.
“This event will see the participation of education and higher education ministers from ASEAN member states and Timor Leste, as well as senior representatives from Myanmar and the ASEAN Secretariat,” he said during a briefing with editors-in-chief at the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) here today.
He said one of the key outcomes of the meeting would be the ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration on Higher Education: Towards an Inclusive, Sustainable and Prosperous ASEAN, which would serve as a foundational document or new blueprint to strengthen higher education in the region over the next decade.
Zambry said the new declaration would renew and reinforce the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on Higher Education adopted at the 27th ASEAN Summit on Nov 21, 2015.
He added that the ASEAN Senior Officials’ Meeting on Education (SOM-ED) held on Feb 14 had also endorsed the implementation of the ASEAN Global Exchange Mobility and Scholarship (ASEAN-GEMS) initiative proposed by Malaysia through Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS).
“This proposal involves the implementation of an Intra-ASEAN Scholarship Programme that facilitates smoother student exchanges among ASEAN countries, free from mobility restrictions, while also providing students with exposure to diplomacy and culture,” he said.
Zambry also noted that the 8th Meeting of the ASEAN Working Group on Higher Education Mobility (AWGHEM) had agreed to place both initiatives on the main agenda of the upcoming roundtable in Langkawi.
Separately, he said that in conjunction with the MADANI Rakyat 2025 programme to be held at Lumut Waterfront, Perak, from June 13 to 15, with the theme Higher Education as the Driver of a MADANI Nation, the ministry will highlight the role of higher education in advancing the MADANI national agenda.
The programme is scheduled to be officiated by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and will feature various activities involving universities, polytechnics and community colleges.
Commenting on Malaysia’s role as ASEAN Chair this year, Zambry said MOHE had taken a strategic approach by convening two ministerial meetings — one involving education ministers and the other focusing specifically on higher education.
“In this engagement, we want Malaysia to be the heart of ASEAN higher education excellence by strengthening regional collaboration, including through the empowerment of teaching personnel in areas such as artificial intelligence and the latest technologies,” he said.
