Bandung, November 14–15, 2024 – SEAMEO CECCEP held a FGD to develop draft the SEAMEO-ASEAN Joint Roadmap on ECCE. This roadmap is an extension of the ASEAN Declaration on Early Childhood Care and Education in Southeast Asia. The FGD aimed to develop a roadmap that would provide guidelines for Southeast Asian countries to expand access to and improve the quality of early childhood education (ECE) across the ASEAN region.
The event began with an opening speech from the Director of SEAMEO CECCEP, Prof. Vina Andriany, Ph.D In her remarks, she expressed hope that this discussion would serve as an important and strategic step to ensure the roadmap being developed could be implemented optimally. Prof. Vina emphasized that the forum was not only intended to draft the roadmap but also to foster collaboration and evaluation among all stakeholders, ensuring every step in the roadmap would be relevant and effective in achieving the goal of improving ECE quality at the regional level.
This was followed by a speech from Komalasari, M.Pd., Director of Early Childhood Education, who highlighted the importance of making the ECCE Roadmap a government commitment to achieving quality early childhood education through ASEAN cooperation. She stressed the need for synergy between access and quality of ECE services in the roadmap’s planning and encouraged a spirit of collaboration to realize it.
The roadmap outlined various critical points to strengthen early childhood care and education (ECCE) services in the ASEAN region. Key focuses included expanding access to ECCE services, improving program quality, strengthening the workforce, and enhancing governance and partnerships in this sector. Additionally, the roadmap emphasized empowering parents, utilizing digital technology for ECCE services, and mobilizing financial resources to support these initiatives. The roadmap was designed in several phases: situational and needs analysis (Phase I), policy development (Phase II), policy implementation (Phase III), and monitoring, evaluation, and knowledge sharing (Phase IV).
The event was attended by Hani Yulindrasari (Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia), Dwi Purwestri Sri Suwarningsih (Koalisi PAUD HI), the Bureau of Cooperation and Public Relations or Tim Biro Kerja Sama dan Hubungan Masyarakat (BKHM) team, Drs. Mareta, M.Pd., and Arika Noviani, representatives from the Directorate of Early Childhood Education, and Yohan Rubiyantoro (Directorate of Primary Schools).
The discussions generated constructive input from participants, including the importance of clarifying whether the roadmap’s implementation would focus on national or regional levels. It was agreed that the roadmap would prioritize regional-level actions within a five-year timeframe as the primary framework. Participants also emphasized the need for more detailed strategies to ensure effective implementation. Another key point raised was the importance of inclusivity, particularly in reaching vulnerable groups often overlooked by local government programs, to ensure the roadmap’s sustainability and positive impact.
On the second day, discussions focus on the need for more disaggregated ECCE data, covering vulnerable groups by age, gender, socioeconomic status, and other backgrounds. Hani Yulindrasari highlighted differences in ECCE age ranges across ASEAN countries, necessitating a roadmap tailored to the needs of each country. Participants agreed to formulate specific steps to ensure the roadmap's effective implementation in individual countries, starting from a declaration to strategic plans and goal matrices, as proposed by the BKHM team.
To conclude, SEAMEO CECCEP Director Prof. Vina Andriany expressed her appreciation to all parties involved and hoped the roadmap would be launched in 2025. She affirmed that the roadmap was designed to be inclusive for all Southeast Asian countries. “May this roadmap become a solid foundation to strengthen our shared commitment to improving access and quality of ECCE at the regional level,” she concluded.
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