Jakarta, 18 October 2022 – The Minister of Education of Singapore, HE Mr Chan Chun Sing, visited Indonesia in one of his roles as the President of Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Council. The last visit done by the SEAMEO Council President to Indonesia was in April 2016, where General Dapong Ratanasuwan, the Minister of Education of Thailand who was officiated at that time, attended the 2^nd Strategic Dialogue for Education Ministers (SDEM) in Bandung. All SEAMEO Centres in Indonesia were also invited to participate in this event. During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was no visitation paid by the SEAMEO Council President to SEAMEO member countries, until now.

Indonesia is the second country visited by HE Mr Chan Chun Sing, after Malaysia in last July, where he had the chance to do dialogue with all Malaysian SEAMEO Centres.

In Indonesia, HE Mr Chan Chun Sing also had the opportunity to do bilateral dialogue with the Minister of Education Culture Research and Technology (MoECRT) of Indonesia, Mr Nadiem Makarim, on October 18, 2022, morning. After that, Mr Chan Chun Sing paid a visit to 7 (seven) SEAMEO Centre in Indonesia, they are SEAMEO BIOTROP, SEAMEO CECCEP, SEAMEO QITEP in Language, SEAMEO QITEP in Mathematics, SEAMEO QITEP in Science, SEAMEO RECFON, and SEAMEO SEAMOLEC. The welcoming ceremony took place at the SEAMEO SEAMOLEC office, Complex Universitas Terbuka, South Tangerang, on Tuesday, October 18, 2022, at noon time.

The Ambassador of Singapore in Jakarta, Mr. Kwok Fook Seng, also attended the ceremony, with the Counsellor and delegates from the Ministry for Education of Singapore. The MoECRT was represented by the Director General of Early Childhood, Basic, and Secondary Education, Dr Iwan Syahril, with delegates, and a representative from SEAMEO Secretariat.

The ceremony began with a formal luncheon. Continued by a visit to a small exhibition booth where all SEAMEO Centres got a good chance to explain their roles and functions in supporting literacy and education in Southeast Asia through their flagship programmes.

In his remarks, Mr Chan Chun Sing appreciated each of the respective SEAMEO Centres in Indonesia and will support other innovations to be carried out. “Let us continue to work together and I look forward to working closely with all of you.”

Dr Iwan Syahril added, “The Ministry of Education has a high hope for SEAMEO Centers in Indonesia that have strategic roles to not only implement the 7 SEAMEO Priority Areas for the region but also to support the current Indonesia education policy, namely Emancipated Learning.”

On behalf of all Centre Directors, Dr Wahyudi, the Director of SEAMOLEC and as the host of the event, emphasized that, “7 SEAMEO Centres in Indonesia are ready to support the educational priorities in Southeast Asia through its flagship programmes, in order to realize the SEAMEO mission of improving the quality of human resources in the region.”