Delegates of the World Teachers’ Day Forum

The UTAR Centre for Learning and Teaching (CLT) recently participated in three UNESCO events in Bangkok, Thailand. They were the World Teachers’ Day Forum held on 5 and 6 October 2016, the Expert Meeting on Facilitating Teachers’ Use of Open Educational Resources on 7 October 2016 and the18^th UNESCO-APEID International Conference held from 26 until 28 October 2016.  The CLT is an official Resource Distribution and Training Centre (RDTC) of UNESCO Bangkok.

The objective of the World Teachers’ Day Forum was to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of theInternational Labour Organization (ILO) and UNESCO’s recommendations concerning the status of teachers.  Themed ‘Valuing Teachers, Improving their Status’, it focused on reviewing teacher policies with reference to the 1966 recommendations, examining the gaps in promoting teachers’ status and improving their working conditions,discussing policies which impact teacher issues, and gathering input on ground needs of teachers and possible actions to improve their status.

Among the notable panellists were UNESCO Bangkok’s Chief of Section for Educational Innovation and Skills Development, Dr Wang Libing, Dean of Academy of Principals, Singapore Dr Belinda Charles, Founding Director of the Commonwealth Tertiary Education Facility and Senior Research Fellow at the National Higher Education Research Institute Prof Dato’ Dr Morshidi Sirat, and UNESCO Bangkok’s Former Programme Specialist Dr Molly Lee.

CLT Chairperson Winnie Er Pek Hoon was invited as a panellist at the 2^nd Plenary Discussion on “Teachers’ Needs from Ground Perspective”. Other panellists were Yuexiu District Center for Teacher Education Development, China Lecture Researcher Li Nihong and Education Programme Supervisor, Philippines Master Teacher Amcy Esteban.

The next event was the Expert Meeting on Facilitating Teachers’ Use of Open Educational Resources (OER), which was held in succession with the World Teachers’ Day Forum to implement the Paris OER Declaration 2012. Its specific objectives were to conduct a regional survey on teachers’ awareness of and the use of OERs, to develop a guidebook for teachers in accessing, exploring, evaluating, using, re-purposing and sharing OERs, and consult and agree on the form, flow and workplan for the guidelines to support teachers in using OERs.

CLT Senior Member Lee Chee Heong represented Chong Chee Keong to present the findings of a UNESCO-funded research project titled “OER Awareness among Teachers in Malaysia”. Lee also presented the draft Research Framework and Survey Items of the proposed UNESCO-CLT regional survey on teachers’ awareness and the use of OERs.  Among the notable experts present were Chairman of Board of Governors, Wawasan Open University Tan Sri Emeritus Prof Dr Gajaraj Dhanarajan, Creative Commons, India Dr Savithri Singh, School of Information Technology, South China Normal University Deputy Dean Prof Dr Andrew Zhao Jianhua, and Director of Learning Partnerships, Education Services Australia (ESA)Stacey Hattensen.

As for the 18^th UNESCO-APEID(Asia-Pacific Programme of Educational Innovation for Development) Conference, it was themed ‘In Pursuit of Quality Education: The Past, Present and Future’ and aimed to increase knowledge on how quality is understood in education, showcase innovative approaches and practices that improve the quality of education, enhance the understanding of the assessment, monitoring and evaluation of the quality of education, and facilitate collaboration and networking to improve the quality of education.

The opening speeches were given by Director of UNESCO Bangkok Dr Kim Gwang Jo and Thailand’s Minister of Education His Excellency General Dapong Ratanasuwan. Professor Dr Kishore Mahbubani, Dean of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy gave a lecture titled “Can Asia be the Next Higher Education Superpower?”

There were four plenary sessions and five concurrent presentations held over the three-day event.  Some notable plenary panellists were BRAC University, Bangladesh Professor Emeritus Prof Dr Manzoor Ahmed, Undersecretary for Curriculum and Instruction, Department of Education, Philippines Dr Dina Joana S. Ocampo and Hong Kong Centre for International Student Assessment, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Director Dr Esther Ho.

Er also represented Chong Chee Keong in presenting a UNESCO-funded research project named “Awareness of Open Educational Resources (OER): A Malaysian Case” at the concurrent presentation titled “Open Educational Resources in Asia and the Pacific”. 

Er at the plenary session on "Teachers’ Needs from Ground Perspective"

Er and Chee Heong with Tan Sri Gajaraj and Dr Mahanom binti Mat Sam, Timbalan Ketua Nazir (Dasar), Jemaah Nazir dan Jaminan Kualiti, Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia  

Chee Heong and Er with Prof Morshidi

Er and Chee Heong with Dr Wang and Prof Zhao

Participants at the 18^th UNESCO-APEID Conference making a stand for quality education