Jolin Nguyen, Bangkok, Thailand
23 September 2021 – The Southeast Asia Primary Learning Metrics (SEA-PLM) Secretariat, co-chaired by Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) and UNICEF Regional Office for East Asia and Pacific (UNICEF EAPRO), in cooperation with the United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI) has successfully organized a policy roundtable discussion on girls’ and boys’ learning in Southeast Asia across basic education.
The virtual policy roundtable has gathered 70 participants who are education officers, researchers, specialists from SEAMEO Member countries, SEAMEO Centres, partner organizations including Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE), United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI), UNICEF country offices, UNESCO Asia-Pacific Regional Bureau for Education and Aide et Action International, Cambodia.
As part of the discussion, the SEA-PLM Secretariat launched the first SEA-PLM 2019 regional secondary analysis report - SEA-PLM 2019 latest evidence in basic education: Boys’ and girls’ learning in 6 Southeast Asian countries with the overview presented by SEA-PLM Secretariat. Two distinguished experts from two partner organizations, namely Korea Institute for Curriculum and Evaluation (KICE) and United Nations Girls’ Education Initiative (UNGEI) have provided and shared their insights on the findings from the Secondary Analysis.
The discussion highlighted the concrete reflections from five SEA-PLM participating countries, namely Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines, and Vietnam on the learning trends of girls and boys as well as the policy implications in accordance with the new evidence from SEA-PLM 2019. In addition, two SEAMEO member countries that did not yet join SEA-PLM 2019, namely Brunei Darussalam and Timor-Leste, shared country experiences in developing gender policies and improving equity in learning for girls and boys.
The virtual policy roundtable extended our effort in using SEA-PLM 2019 results for paving the way towards a more inclusive and better quality of education for all children in Southeast Asia. By providing insightful and comprehensive findings for developing evidence-based policy, we ensure that each country can actively develop, implement, monitor, report, and enhance the quality of learning at the national level as well as the regional level.
"Proceedings of the policy roundtable is available for view and downloading."
The first SEA-PLM 2019 regional secondary analysis report - SEA-PLM 2019 latest evidence in basic education: Boys’ and girls’ learning in 6 Southeast Asian countries is available for downloading.
