Secretary-General of Education Council participated the APREMC II: Adjusting Thai Education Momentum leading to the achievement of SDGS4
On June 5, 2022, Dr. Atthaphon Sangkhawasee, Secretary General of Education Council participated the 2nd of Asia-Pacific Regional Education Minister’s Conference (APREMC II) hosted by Office of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education between June 5 - 7, 2022 at Shangi-La Hotel, Bangkok. The Ministerial Representatives from 46 UNESCO member countries and heads of organizations related and for more than 300 people joined the Conference.
Dr. Atthaphon Sangkhawasee, Secretary-General of Education Council, described of the Conference as the cooperation between Thai Ministry of Education and UNESCO with the support from UNICEF and the Ministry of Education, Cultures, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) of Japan. The first day of the conference was a technical segment aiming at present the status and progresses of the Sustainable Development Goals 4 (SDGs 4: Quality Education) implementation in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as a general discussion for senior education executives, educators, experts, researchers, etc., under various educational sub-sections.
The 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) was developed and adopted by the United Nations (UN) in 2015 aiming to balance the development in three dimensions; economy, society, and environment, which links to the support and integration of development among different dimensions as appearing in the 2022 Sustainable Development Report (SDR) (recently published in June). Thailand’s SDG index has ranked at number 44th out of 163 countries; It ranks 3rd in Asia, behind only Japan (19th) and South Korea (27th). Moreover, Thailand still ranks 1st in both East and South Asia and still maintain the champion of the ASEAN member countries for the 5th consecutive year (2019 - 2022).
Dr. Atthaphon Sangkhawasee reiterated that in the past few years, the world has faced many crises in the same period such as the impact of the Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) epidemic on economic, social, and environments. It includes regional conflicts and the war in Ukraine. All of them have slowก and halted the progress of SDGs in many goals including the SDGS4 which focuses on the quality education. This Conference focuses on the challenges of education management during the post Covid-19 crisis, leading to the rehabilitation and management of the learning crisis. Transforming education and reforming education systems to be equitable, inclusive, connected, responsive and resilient will affect the children’ potential, youth, and adults across the Asia-Pacific region. In addition, the need for development to reach learners who have been left furthest behind, especially the ones who face the impact of this major crisis. The office of Education Council (OEC) will compile received knowledge and suggestion from the Conference in order to develop policy recommendations for Thailand achieving SDGS4 goals by 2030.
For the meeting of High-Level Segment on 6 to 7 June, results of discussions on various topics will be presented at the Ministerial Meeting on Education in the Asia-Pacific region as well as the Ministerial Roundtables and the endorsement of the Bangkok Statement 2022.
Translated by Danica Muesoh
Edited by Singhachart Traijit
Bureau of International Policy Cooperation
Office of the Education Council