Envisioning together for future

Prime Minister Kim Hwang-sik delivers a speech during a luncheon meeting with education ministers and senior officials of Asia-Pacific countries attending the 5th APEC Education Ministerial Meeting in Gyeongju, Tuesday. The three-day gathering which ended Wednesday, drew some 600 participants from 21 member economies of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum. The participants agreed to step up globalization, innovation and regional cooperation in the field of education.

The following is an excerpt of a joint statement issued by education ministers and senior officials at the end of the 5th APEC Education Ministerial Meeting held in Gyeongju from May 21 to 23. ― ED. 

Introduction

1. We, the education ministers and senior officials of Australia; Brunei Darussalam; Canada; Chile; People’s Republic of China; Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; Japan; Republic of Korea; Malaysia; Mexico; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Peru; the Philippines; the Russian Federation; Singapore; Chinese Taipei; Thailand; the United States; and Vietnam convened for the 5th Ministerial Meeting in Gyeongju, Republic of Korea, on May 21-23, under the chairmanship of Lee Ju-ho, minister of education, science and technology of the Republic of Korea. 

2. We met under the theme of 5th AEMM, Future Challenges and Educational Responses: Fostering Global, Innovative and Cooperative Education, which closely correlates with APEC priorities proposed by the Russian Federation in the year 2012 as far as cooperative education is an integral part of fostering regional innovative growth, promoting future skills suitable for the global society, creating innovative instructional delivery systems, and fostering more collaborative policy decisions to provide for our common fulfillment.

3. We acknowledge that the mission of APEC is “to support sustainable economic growth and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region,” and recognize the significance of achieving a dynamic and harmonious Asia-Pacific community by championing free and open trade and investment and promoting regional economic integration, and the importance of providing all students with a quality education enabling them to engage in the globalized economy.

4. We further recognize that the changing nature of work requires workers to have higher levels of high-quality education and the competencies demanded by the nature of work and the change in the nature of education with the integration of technology and introduction of innovative teaching and learning practices. Finally, the changing nature of education drives the need for increased cooperation and collaboration among education providers, businesses, researchers, and other stakeholders, to better meet the needs of all students and learners, as well as the economy.

Development and progress

5. We acknowledge the development and progress made by the Human Resources Development Working Group (HRDWG) and the Education Network (EDNET) in expanding and extending the educational knowledge-base for the APEC region.

6. We recognize the wealth of knowledge accumulated in priority areas since the 4th APEC Education Ministerial Meeting (AEMM) in Peru in 2008.

7. We acknowledge the successful pre-ministerial meeting organized by EDNET in Moscow in February 2012, where researchers and policy-makers exchanged research findings and policy analyses that reflect our member economies’ greatest needs.

Globalization and education

8. The increased flow of human capital and information has expanded the opportunities for regional integration of the APEC member economies. We are aware that people have greater access to information and knowledge, and that they are increasingly interacting with diverse cultures. 

9. In the current state of the globalized society, we acknowledge that increased cultural sensitivity for fostering global competencies and communication skills is essential. In addition, improved teaching and learning of mathematics and science will further develop students’ logical thinking and cognitive skills along with promoting creativity and flexibility. These skills can be a basis for students to acquire practical knowledge about disaster risks, develop reactive competencies and apply them to real-world problems. We also recognize the importance of preparing a qualified workforce with 21st century skills, promoting cultural understanding, and continuing quality improvement in TVET and higher education. 

10. The Ministers reviewed the recommendations proposed by EDNET in the priority areas of mathematics and science education, language and culture education, and TVET and higher education quality. We agree on the importance of further refinement of educational responses in the following directions: 

Continue to upgrade mathematics and science education capacity across the APEC member economies. Identify the best practices that ensure students are learning the foundation of mathematics and science and applying this learning to real-world issues, such as preserving the environment, reducing damage due to disasters, and achieving green and sustainable growth. 

Create an open environment for education collaboration in mathematics and science starting with a joint data-base of mathematical problems, assessments, and evaluation methods.

Support foreign language education throughout students’ academic careers and develops a system to nurture and train highly qualified language education teachers who also reflect cultural diversity. 

Innovation in education

11. We daily witness advances in technology and the consequential rapid transformation in ways information is shared. ICT is a tool for social and economic development. We acknowledge the importance of enhancing ICT use in education for innovative and inclusive growth in the APEC region, but recognize that an ICT infrastructure and development divide still exists across the APEC member economies.

12. We recognize the importance of teachers, and teacher quality as the most important factor determining students’ success. Developing students with 21st-century competencies requires fundamental and innovative changes in instruction and hence teacher preparation and development. 

13. In review of the recommendations proposed by EDNET in the priority areas of ICT in education and teacher quality, the Ministers direct EDNET to focus on the following educational responses: 

Share experiences of ICT use in education, including development and implementation of national-level Master Plans for ICT utilization in education and the creation of open education resources (OERs), such as those found on the APEC HRD Wiki. Also, encourage the sharing of information about the development of ICT use in education among the member economies.

Strengthen teacher practices in ICT-utilized instruction that provides the greatest benefits for student learning in mathematics, science, language, culture, and TVET subject areas.

Educational cooperation for future

14. We recognize the importance of the APEC Leaders’ Growth Strategy for prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region and emphasize that education plays a key role as one crucial vehicle for implementing and realizing it.

15. We recognize that educational cooperation must be enhanced among and within the member economies in overcoming our global and regional challenges such as overcoming financial and environmental crises, reducing economic and digital divides, reducing natural and man-made disaster risks, and increasing the feasibility of the recommendations made for the priority areas.

16. We acknowledge that the extent to which the member economies cooperate is vital for strengthening the capacity and future viability of education efforts within the APEC region.

17. We recognize the need for cooperative models and best practices in order to share and learn from each other and elevate the level of educational cooperation. We agree on the need for multi-year projects in EDNET in facilitating and evaluating regional collaborative projects.

18. We welcome Korea’s recommendation to enhance practical and sustainable educational cooperation with the title of Education Cooperation Project (ECP), Gyeongju Initiative. Ministers appreciate Korea’s initiative on cooperation.

19. After consideration by EDNET, we direct the Education Cooperation Project draft an outcome report, tentatively entitled, APEC Educational Cooperation Strategies and be submitted to the 6th AEMM through EDNET by 2016. This report of APEC Educational Cooperation Strategies should include identification of possible ways for expanding educational cooperation for the future prosperity of all APEC member economies, and should consolidate all the findings of the collaborative research and the discussions in the symposiums for the years 2013 to 2016. The report should also provide directions for building a mutually beneficial system of APEC educational cooperation for the maximum benefit of all APEC economies. In addition, we direct EDNET to build an education cooperation portal page on the APEC Knowledge Bank Wiki that links to external resources and to wiki pages describing ECP related research findings, materials, and resources.

Conclusion

20. We affirm that educational efforts are underway by APEC member economies with international educational organizations beyond the Asia-Pacific region, such as OECD, EAS, OAS, SEAMEO, the World Bank, and UNESCO, for the strengthening of cooperative research and the sharing of best practices across the global community within APEC guidelines on managing cooperation with non-members. We request EDNET to leverage and strengthen these current relationships and build new partnerships with bilateral and multilateral organizations by promoting activities that correspond with the Ministers’ priorities as well as APEC HRDMM. 

21. We request that EDNET, report on conclusions reached at the 5th APEC Education Ministerial Meeting at the next APEC Leaders’ Meeting in Vladivostok, Russia in September 2012, and provide the Ministers with an Annual Report of Progress towards the goals that we have established. 

22. We would like to extend our most sincere appreciation and gratitude to the Republic of Korea, our host economy, for their excellent coordination and preparation of the meeting. We also express our thanks to the APEC Support Fund and Russia for funding the 3rd Pre-Ministerial Symposium on Education Research and Policy, and to China, Korea, Peru, Russia, and the United States, for building the research and policy base for the priority areas adopted by the Ministers. Finally, our sincere appreciation to EDNET, the HRDWG, and the APEC Secretariat for their important contributions to the success of this meeting.

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