VP Duterte, umupo na bilang council president ng Southeast Asian education organization

UMUPO na si Vice President and Education Secretary Sara Duterte  bilang council president ng Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO).

Pebrero 8 nang umupo si Duterte sa kanyang posisyon kasabay ng  opening ceremony ng SEAMEO Council Conference, kung saan ang Pilipinas ang papalit sa liderato ng organisasyon. Pinalitan ng Pilipinas ang  Singapore.

Sa kanyang naging talumpati sa nasabing seremonya, tinukoy ni Duterte na lumala ang “learning poverty” sa panahon ng  COVID-19 pandemic, dahilan para magambala at matigil ang pagpasok sa eskuwela.

Kaya ang panawagan ni Duterte sa mga member countries ay “act now as we cannot afford to waste more time.”

“As education leaders, we cannot allow ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) children to miss out on the beauty and benefits of learning,” ayon kay Duterte.

“We have a responsibility to them. The decisions we make today will help determine the quality of life in our countries, and in the entire ASEAN region,” aniya pa rin.

Ang SEAMEO Council ayon sa Department of Education (DepEd) ay highest policy-making body ng organisasyon na kinabibilangan ng 11 member countries.

Ang Pilipinas ang kasalukuyang host ng  SEAMEO council conference sa Maynila mula Pebrero 8, hanggang Pebrero 10, 2023.

Ang mga member countries ay Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pilipinas, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, at Vietnam.

Ayon sa  DepEd, “the council’s presidency is assumed by the member countries on a rotation basis in alphabetical order, unless a country requests to be skipped in the rotation.”

Inaasahan na pangungunahan ng Pilipinas ang konseho mula 2023 hanggang  2025. (Daris Jose)