Indonesia’s Minister of Education and Culture, Professor Muhadjir Effendy, accompanied by Ambassador of Indonesia in Vietnam, H.E. Ibnu Hadi, Director of the Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) Secretariat, Dr. Gatot Hari Priowirjanto, and other officials from the ministry held a bilateral meeting with Minister of Education and Training Professor Phung Xuan Nha on July 23 at the ministry in Hanoi.

The meeting is part of Professor Effendy’s working visit to Vietnam from July 22 to 25 in his capacity as President of the SEAMEO Council in the 2017-2019 period.

The bilateral meeting reaffirmed the commitment of the two countries to continue the implementation of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on education cooperation signed on August 23, 2017. Professor Effendy hopes to strengthen bilateral education cooperation with Vietnam, especially in the field of vocational education and teachers’ capacity building, as well as in addressing common education challenges in Southeast Asia.

The meeting also underlined Indonesia’s desire to learn from Vietnam’s best practices and experience in implementing the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). Professor Effendy acknowledged Vietnam’s achievements in PISA, which in 2015 ranked eighth out of 70 countries in science, 22nd in mathematics, and 32nd in literacy.

Realizing the importance of language in improving mutual understanding between the two countries, Professor Effendy extended a commitment to increase support for the teaching of the Indonesian language at Vietnamese universities. He also asked Vietnam to open Vietnamese language courses in Indonesia. In this regard, Ambassador Hadi also expects support from the Vietnamese Government in the establishment of an Indonesian Studies Center at Hanoi University, an MoU on the establishment of which was signed by the Embassy and the university in 2015.

As President of the SEAMEO Council, Professor Effendy said its mission in Vietnam was to not only enhance education cooperation between the two countries but also between Southeast Asian countries under SEAMEO. After Hanoi, he will head to Ho Chi Minh City to visit SEAMEO RETRACT (Regional Training Center) and SEAMEO CELLL (Center for Lifelong Learning) to take a closer look at the efforts of both centers to help SEAMEO member countries improve their skills and provide training in the field of education management and lifelong learning.

Ending his working visit in Hanoi, he visited Da Phuc High School in Soc Son district. With good student achievements and high student participation at university and college, Da Phuc High School has received many awards from the Vietnamese Government.

VIR