Strategic and impactful partnerships

SEA-PLM has evolved into an influential large-scale learning assessment in the region, which is possible through strategic and impactful technical and financial partnerships and collaboration with diverse actors and partners. Further, through the participation of Southeast Asian countries and their partners, the programme can work towards creating equitable and meaningful education for all children across the region.

The development of the SEA-PLM Programme was possible thanks to the commitment of Ministries of Education from all Southeast Asian countries, particularly the SEA-PLM 2019 final participating countries: Cambodia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines and Viet Nam. The countries mobilised necessary human and financial resources with their national partners and educational stakeholders to participate in the first phase of SEA-PLM.

The SEA-PLM Secretariat extends special gratitude to the representatives of the Ministries of Education of SEAMEO Country Members that contributed substantially to SEA-PLM discussions: Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Timor-Leste. The Secretariat is also grateful to the ASEAN Secretariat for their contribution to the programme through discussions and commitments during the Senior Officials Meetings on Education and associated meetings.

SEA-PLM would not have been possible without the support of resource partners who generously provided education thematic funding. Thematic funds are critical to implementing system-wide programmes with a longer-term impact, such as SEA-PLM. Appreciation to the Government of Norway—the most significant thematic UNICEF resources partner—for providing almost 80 per cent of all thematic education contributions received in recent years.

SEAMEO and UNICEF EAPRO wish to particularly acknowledge and thank the Australian Council for Education Research (ACER) and all dedicated experts for their technical support and expertise since the conception of the SEA-PLM 2019 survey and during the regional reporting of the results. It has been a seven-year journey of productive and constructive collaboration and learning. Technical support for the development of the SEA-PLM Proficiency Descriptors and the alignment to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals indicators was jointly funded by the Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and the Australian Government's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) through the Global Education Monitoring Centre. 

The SEA-PLM Secretariat also wishes to acknowledge all stakeholders, former individual experts and institutions as part of the SEA-PLM 2019 Technical Advisory Group involved in SEA-PLM's inception and implementation stages. The TAG provided independent technical advice in the final methodology phases of SEA-PLM 2019.