Phnom Penh: On November 02, 2023 at 2:00 pm at SEAMEO TED headquarter, there was a courtesy meeting between SEAMEO TED management and Professor Dr. Séamus Ó Tuama, Director of adult continuing education (ACE) at University College Cork, Ireland to seek cooperation possibilities on technical and vocational education and training (TVET) between Asia and Europe.
(Discussion in the Meeting)
To kick off the meeting, Dr. Songheang Ai, director of SEAMEO TED welcomed prof. Dr. Séamus Ó Tuama to SEAMEO TED and briefly highlighted the three key tasks of SEAMEO TED covering public relations and partnership, research and development, and technical education and training working for vocational and technical high schools in the ASEAN region including Timor-Leste. For capacity-building programs, SEAMEO TED concentrates on reskilling and upskilling technical education instructors, school management and supporting administrators to catch up with technological innovation. For example, reskilling and upskilling programs encompass Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), Robotic Control, Landscape Design, E-Commerce, Construction and Civil Engineering, Coding and Programming, Hydroponics, etc. For research and development, some articles have been published online at accredited journals. SEAMEO TED has cooperated with other national and international organizations to co-host research conferences on TVET subsequently. For public relations and partnership, SEAMEO TED has organized some study visits, webinars, SEA virtual teacher exchange programs (Batch I & II), Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with some organizations.
In response, Prof. Dr. Séamus Ó Tuama thanked for warmly welcoming him to SEAMEO TED to start the cooperation between Asia and Europe on TVET particularly focusing on technical and vocational high schools and colleges. He congratulated SEAMEO TED on great achievements having done so far. He introduces Asia Europe Meeting Lifelong Learning Hub (ASEM LLL) particularly focusing on seven research networks that SEAMEO TED can be the membership for cooperation. He was interested in co-organizing the conference and forum together in the future on TVET and lifelong learning.
Finally, Dr. Songheang Ai was committed in cooperatively working with him for TVET development. He and his colleagues will join any research network appropriate for their expertise. Both parties were committed to keep in touch with each other to strengthen cooperation.
(Group Photo after the Meeting)