SEAMEO Secretariat Visit to SEAMEO CECCEP: Realizing a Bright Future for Early Childhood Education in Southeast Asia

Advocacy & Patnership
August 13 , 2024

Bandung, On 13 August 2024 - SEAMEO CECCEP warmly welcomed the special visit from the Director of SEAMEO Secretariat and representatives from UNICEF EAPRO during a meeting in Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. This visit was a valuable moment to strengthen collaboration in efforts to improve the quality of Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) across Southeast Asia.

The delegates are Datuk Dr. Habibah Abdul Rahim, Director of SEAMEO Secretariat; Mr. John Arnold Siena, Deputy Director for Programme and Development, SEAMEO Secretariat; Ms. Mitsue Uemura, Regional Education Advisor, UNICEF EAPRO; Mr. Alejandro Ibañez, SEA-PLM Project Manager, SEA-PLM Regional Secretariat.

Professor Vina Adriany, Ph.D., Director of SEAMEO CECCEP, warmly welcome and expressed her appreciation for the visit of Datuk Dr. Habibah and her team. She emphasized the importance on close collaboration between these institutions to achieve common goals. Professor Vina also highlighted the flagship programs currently being implemented by SEAMEO CECCEP, including research on parents' understanding in preparing for the transition of early childhood education to primary school. Additionally, she mentioned various initiatives that had been carried out throughout 2024, such as capacity-building programs in Brunei Darussalam, as well as plans for additional training and the drafting of policy briefs related to Holistic Integrative Early Childhood Development.

Datuk Dr. Habibah Abdul Rahim expressed her joy at this visit, which was her first time in Bandung. She also appreciated the initiatives that SEAMEO CECCEP had undertaken. She highlighted the importance of developing the ASEAN Declaration roadmap, which she noted should not only remain on paper but also be translated into real action. Dr. Habibah also emphasized that 2025 would be a crucial year for setting standards and achieving SDG targets for early childhood education.

Ms. Mitsue Uemura, Regional Education Advisor at UNICEF EAPRO, also expressed her positive impressions of this visit, which was her first time in Bandung. She highlighted the great potential for collaboration, especially in parenting programs aimed at ensuring that every child receives quality early childhood education and the fulfilment of children's rights.

Mr. John Arnold Siena from SEAMEO Secretariat also stated that he had been involved several times in SEAMEO CECCEP activities, including the drafting of policy briefs and the preparation of the upcoming roadmap declaration activities. He welcomed this collaboration opportunity and saw it as a positive step in strengthening joint efforts.

The meeting concluded in a warm and friendly atmosphere, with SEAMEO CECCEP presenting tokens of appreciation to the partner delegates as a token of gratitude for their valuable contributions. This gesture symbolized recognition of their collaboration in advancing early childhood education in Southeast Asia.

This event was very profound impression on all participants, reinforcing their commitment to continue working together to improve access and quality of early childhood education in the region. The collaboration formed is expected to bring about positive and sustainable changes for the future of children in Southeast Asia.