Dr Gwang-Jo Kim, director of UNESCO Bangkok, the Asia Pacific Region Bureau of Education, said the approach required “quality education at all levels”.
He spoke at the opening of the 18th UNESCO-APEID International Conference: “In Pursuit of Quality Education: The Past, Present and Future”.
The three-day event brought together about 180 policy-makers, researchers, academics and teachers to explore what quality education means, discuss key obstacles and share innovative practices that are improving learning throughout the region.
Kim said the conference theme was timely as the international community moves forward in pursuit of Sustainable Development Goal 4, which calls for all countries to |“ensure inclusive and equitable |quality education and promote lifelong learning”.
“Education has a responsibility to foster the right type of skills, attitudes and behaviour that will lead to sustainable and inclusive growth. This requires transformative education … Ultimately we are talking about education that will change ourselves and those around us,” Kim said.
“Sustainable Development Goal 4 and the Education 2030 Agenda were formulated to capture this vision.”
In remarks to officially open the conference, Education Minister General Dapong Ratanasuwan paid tribute to His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who passed away on October 13, with a special presentation of the late King’s development works, particularly in education.
Dapong said that His Majesty’s sufficiency economy philosophy was “100 per cent in line with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals” and “The current government will continue to follow His Majesty’s footsteps”.
The education minister noted that while all countries in Asia-Pacific had the same deadline to achieve the Education 2030 goals, “the distance from the starting points to these achievements is not equal for all”.
“What should we do to [ensure that] all countries in the Asia-Pacific region achieve the Education 2030 Agenda in due time considering our contexts and levels of development are vastly different?” Dapong asked. “[One solution] is to select the best practices that are feasible and can be adapted to each country’s context.”
Kishore Mahbubani, dean of the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, delivered the conference’s keynote Raja Roy Singh Lecture, asking, “Can Asia be the next higher education superpower?”
Mahbubani argued that we are entering a “a new era in world history” where Asia would assume increasing prominence and where Asian universities would play an increasingly important role.
He cited China as a country where a “miracle in higher education” had taken place, with the country’s cohort participation rate in higher education going from 3 per cent in 1990 to 30 per cent in 2013.
Mahbubani also highlighted India’s success, where the rate went up from 6 per cent in 1990 to 24 per cent in 2013.
But he noted that the quality of higher education in both countries had not kept pace with the rapid expansion in quantity – a situation common elsewhere in Asia and one that he said must be addressed for the region to assume a leading role in higher education.
Improved cooperation between universities from different countries throughout the region would also be a bridge to improved relations and mutual understanding, he said.
“Universities need to show some real political courage. Regardless of international divisions, we are universities, we are custodians of the heritage of humanity. We will not be bound or affected by temporary political rivalries.
“If Asian universities can show that kind of political courage, we will end up with a better world, and a world where Asia will finally emerge as a higher education superpower.”
Among themes explored at the conference, which concluded yesterday, will be concepts and frameworks of quality education; innovations for increasing the quality of education; assessment, monitoring and evaluation of quality education and effective policies and strategies for quality education.