Blueprint to an improved Asean education network
Re: “Asean at 50: Thailand must do more” (Opinion, Jan 2).
All institutional anniversaries have an educational component. Evoking the birth certificate of Asean signed in Bangkok on August 8 1967 has a global significance. Asean’s half a century history offers useful lessons going beyond the area covered by this regional organisation. It is a fact specifically recognised by the 193 United Nations (UN) member states, who adopted last month by consensus a comprehensive resolution dedicated to the cooperation between Asean and the UN. According to this document, the world community of nations is looking forward to the 50th anniversary of Asean in 2017, which coincides with the chairmanship of the Philippines under the theme “Partnering for change, engaging the world”.
The resolution makes express reference to the Asean Socio-Cultural Community (ASCC) Blueprint 2025 which contains the commitment to lift the quality of life of peoples through cooperative activities that are people-oriented, people-centred, environmentally friendly, and geared towards the promotion of sustainable development.
In this context, the ASCC Blueprint 2025 has the merit of focusing interalia on a fundamental aspect to be further emphasised in 2017 – the
necessity to promote equitable opportunities to quality education with priority given to the advancement of universal access to education.
Ioan Voicu
